Of Blood and Binary
by Keyo-Red Angel of Hope
Summary: Digimon Online, the most popular MMO in the world with millions of players world wide, where players can raise their own monster partner and battle it out in this beautiful world. But with hackers and anomalies appearing...it is just a game...right?
1. Chapter 1

**Keyo: **A few notes for those that will read them. This is an original tale of Digimon composed by myself along with a friend of mine Metal Raven which as been in the works for at least a year, or six years if you go back to the RP where this all began.

The concept of Digimon and all trademarked characters are property of Bandai and this has been created purely for entertainment.

All original Digimon and Characters appearing in this story are 'fan copyrighted' by Ravin, and myself and are not to be used by other authors without permission.

Please enjoy.

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Chapter 1: Prologue!

At least we know there will be a story!

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The curtains were drawn and the lights were off, the room illuminated only by the computer screen's backlight. The kit was impressive, not computer genius impressive, but far above average. The desktop background displayed a piece of fan art the user had found, Angewoman with her arms spread wide, bathed in light with loose feathers falling around her. If the lights were on, it would have been possible to see various posters and works of fan-art of a similar vein, plushies piled on the bed, and even a hat embossed with a Calumon patch.

Tanya Mills took a deep breath. She wanted to savour this moment.

Sweeping her unkempt brown hair from her bespectacled face, she pulled the duct-tape from the card-board package, proceeding to pry it open and, with great reverence, lifted the plastic box out, gently removing it from the plastic sheath, she pried it open and removed the disc, slotting it into her computer tower and watching as the desktop displayed its findings.

**Do you wish to install 'Digimon Online'?**

**Yes/No**

"Yes." She whispered as she clicked the icon. "God yes."

Giggling like a younger variety of school girl, Tanya spun in her wheely office chair and flicked on her desk lamp before propping her feet up on the desk and drawing out the manual. Gently leafing through the pages, she took in the artwork and graphics, before settling in on how to hook up the necessary hardware, before moving onto the basic controls.

She'd been waiting for this day for months now. Saving up for the game, trying to find it, having to order it online, having to wait for it to be delivered, and now it was hers. And nothing, _nothing_, was going to keep her from spending the rest of her day loading up and playing it.

"Tanny! I need you to take the rubbish out!"

Groaning, Tanya dropped her feet back to the floor.

"Yes mum!" She called, placing both box and manual down on her desk and exiting her room.

"And while you're at it, could you go and get me some eggs?"

"Aw but Mum…"

As Mrs Mills persuaded her daughter that the trip would cost her only a few minutes, the store being right next to the apartment building, and that her game would still be here when she got back, the download bar continued to fill, transferring the game's information to the hard drive. For a brief moment, the screen flickered with static, and then, was gone.

At 16, Tanya Mills may seem a bit old to have a bit of an undying passion when it came to all things Digimon, but she couldn't really help it. She liked the art, enjoyed the stories, and loved the monsters! 6 years ago, Digimon Online first appeared in stores, created by Pandai, a small, failing software company, yet this game pulled them from the red and has made them millions, generating 5 seasons worth of an anime, mini-games, and, of course, merchandise. And it is only now, thanks to gaining a part-time job at Joe's Convenience store, that Tanya was able to pay the online fees and finally become a player.

"Dinner will be in two hours!" Her mother told her as the teenager nodded absently, returning to her room and sitting back in front of the screen.

**Download Complete.**

**Execute?**

**Y/N?**

Once more clicking 'y', Tanya's grin broadened as the screen turned black for a moment, before coming up with the game's start screen. As the character creation screen loaded up, she let out another childish squeal and giggles.

----

"How is the excavation progressing?" A cultured voice enquired.

"We have located the artefact in question and one of our operatives has almost finished with hacking through the defences. However, obtaining the artefact without alerting the Moderators is going to be difficult." A slightly aged, calculating voice.

"Do not worry." The cultured voice returned. "I'm sure they will find a way."

----

"Welcome to File Island!" A cheery airhostess type voice said, attached to a cheery airhostess type body. "Please, step this way." And with a very airhostess like movement, she indicated a large metallic door.

Stepping through, Tanya found the Air Hostess theme carried on with a large lobby that was reminiscent of an airport lounge, people and Digimon bustled around, new comers had bemused looks upon their faces, sharing her wide eyed approach, while more experienced players seemed to smile with nostalgia at them, before proceeding to wherever they were going.

'I'll find that out one day.' Tanya thought as she watched a rather short cowboy styled player and a rather large dinosaur Digimon vanish through a set of doors.

She was actually amazed at the number and types of Digimon filling the lobby, as well as the players, many of who were dressed in rather fantastic and outlandish garbs. She herself was in a rather white tee-shirt sporting the digital hazard emblem, a mid length black skirt and black sandals, a small backpack sat on her shoulders for any items she acquired. The very basic 'n00b' gear, but eventually Tanya wanted something far more dynamic! She was just so…plain in her real life; here she wanted to be stunning. She had given her character long silvery hair and purple eyes, a moderate bust, and a fine figure and had done away with her glasses. Here she wasn't dull, dreary, geeky Tanya Mills, here she was Dainya! And it was time for her to meet her partner.

"Please insert your digivice now." The Air Hostess told her.

Back at her desk, Tanya lifted the visor for a moment. This was another feature that had given the game such great popularity, the Visor system not only allowed the player a full first person view of their gaming experience, but also had a mechanism built in to read the users expressions and emulate them on screen, and some claimed all of the avatar's actions were far too real and natural. Theories ranged from an intricate pulse reading system with extensive research and programming to generate a wide variety of avatar motions, to mind reading. And while one day the truth would become very important to Tanya, right now she was only concerned with plugging the round device into the USB port before sliding the visor back down again.

"Digivice connected. We will now upload your partner."

The avatar seemed to mimic the tense and gleeful appearance of Tanya. When putting together her avatar, there had been a sort of personality quiz to decide her partner, with questions ranging from the odd, like _'Do you prefer night or day?'_ to the slightly sensible _'If you found a wallet in the street what would you do?'_ and one she was sure was a sure was a joke, just made up of 0s and 1s. She was sure it had said something like 'can you read binary?' and had simply clicked the shortest answer, guessing that it meant 'no'.

There was suddenly a flash of light before her, which became a soft glow, which began to take shape. When the light vanished, a furry Digimon floated in the air, curled up, before gently lowering to the ground and opening up. It resembled a sort of bi-pedal grey wolf, with long claws adorning it's hands and feet and a pair of belts crossing it's chest, partially hidden by a collar of outstanding white fur, curves in the body suggested a female disposition. Then, her ears twitched and green eyes opened.

"Mrrraaaah!" It seemed to yawn? "Hello."

A panel in the corner of Dainya's vision appeared, displaying a smaller image of the Digimon, along with some vital statistics.

**Name: Lupmon**

**Level: Rookie**

**Type: Data**

**Attacks: **Primal Claw, Howl Buster.

Dainya. beamed.

"Hello. Lupmon."

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**Metal Raven:** Wow, we finally got this thing started! With all our other ideas (two different Yugioh stories, a sentai Evangelion, even some beginning ideas for a Pokemon story, not to mention our really good original ideas that we're saving for when we find an artist to do webcomics), you wouldn't think we could get something done, ya know?

Lupmon was my idea, and Keyo's naming genius. I'm big fan of wolves, almost as much as ravens, and as cool as Garurumon is, I wanted something more to do with the mystical feeling of the wolf, the pictures of them beneath the moon, etc., and less to do with a big quadruped tank with wings. Lupmon will have her heavy-hitting moments, but she's more about looking awesome when she does it.

**Keyo:**And so we have the prologue type chapter. The story proper kicks off with Chapter 2. It's my goal to try and get a chapter up each week. To such extent, I've created a 4 chapter break for myself to make sure I have something to post.

So here we have an intro to our heroine. The next chapter will contain what could be considered the hero of the story as we actually receive some plot.

As I said earlier, this all really dates back to an RP in the Megatokyo forums about six years ago, where, incidentally, Raven and I first met. With the amount we've talked about it I'm going to have my work cut out for me writing it all up.

Until next time!

**Keyo & Raven.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Keyo – Red Angel of Hope: **As ever, Digimon and the concept belong to Bandai, as do all affiliated characters. All fan characters are fan-copy righted by myself and Metal Raven. Comments after the chapter end.

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Chapter 2: Break! Pt 1

An unexpected jump in difficulty!

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Fragment Desert, the most barren spot on the whole of File Island, a wasteland of sand, sand, and more sand. Because of this harsh environment, there were a lot of strong Digimon, their strength a matter of necessity in order to survive, thus posing the question of what in the Digital World had possessed Dainya and Lupmon to come out here?  
Dainya herself was wondering that as she lay face down in the sand, the Tyrannomon's attack having sent her and Lupmon crashing across the ground.

It had all started out so well.

----

Lupmon had been very happy to see Dainya when she got back. The girl had been forced to go for dinner for a short while, but it had apparently been long enough to warrant the canine Digimon leaping up upon her and licking at her face.

"Miss you!" The Digimon beamed when she finally finished delivering her tongue bath.

"Ah! I wasn't gone that long Lupmon!"

Tanya had been thoroughly impressed with the AI system with the Digimon. When she and Lupmon had left the Lobby, her partner had begun asking her questions about things, and seemed to share her awe at the town around them. She had heard that Pandai had made some advancements in AI technology, but she hadn't expected anything like this.

"Where are we going now?"

Pausing, Dainya considered the question. They'd already been to Kotemon's dojo, allowing her to get the hang of basic combat commands, they'd done a whole bunch of the little missions around Root Town, and so she was a bit stumped as to where to go next.

"I don't know Lupmon…" Dainya tapped her chin.

"You could try da Fragment Desert."

Turning around, the partners looked at the source of the voice. There stood an Impmon, his face baring a casual, but self important, smirk.

"Awwww!" Dainya almost squealed, restraining herself from glomping the informant.

"Y'know…dat's…kinda creepy." Impmon edged back, the look on Dainya's face creeping him out just a little, she looked far too ready to pounce, her eyes having widened in the way a cat's would.

"Sorry, what's in the desert?" Dainya shuffled her feet, a little embarrassed.

"Heaps of treasure of course!" Impmon explained, as if obvious. "Lots of treasure hunters hang around 'dere. If you get in on one of 'deir expeditions, you'll be able to get enough money to head to 'da continent of Server, and 'dats where 'da plot is, ya know? Not to mention you'll be able to buy a much flashier outfit."

Dainya looked down at her clothes, then at those around her…if she had more money…she would be able to get some really fancy gear, look like a proper Digimon character, and the manual did say that Server was where things would really kick off…

"Okay then!" She called out, full of determination in a way Tanya _never_ displayed. "Lupmon, we're going to Fragment Desert!" The wolf nodded and the two shot off.

It took the pair some time to make their way to the desert, and it was only once they had gotten lost that Dainya realised that the Impmon had given them no specific place in the desert to look for, and it was only when the very large, very irate Tyrannomon began to become very irate with them, did she realise that they had just been take for the proverbial spin.

"Howl Buster!" Lupmon had managed to pull herself up to launch her signature attack, her low health causing her to fly back fro the recoil, lying in the sand, Lupmon pulled herself onto all fours, letting off another Howl Buster before keeling over, exhausted.

"Oh gawd, oh gawd!" Tanya wailed, pulling at her hair in panic. "I haven't even played up to 3 am yet! I'm so sorry Lupmon!"

Looking over at her partner, the Wolf gave something of a grin as the Tyrannomon's jaws opened wide, preparing to finish the pair off.

"Blaze Bla…"

"Slash Ripper!"

A smaller red Digimon suddenly launched into view, whirling rapidly, its claws tore into the champion Digimon, causing its signature attack to crash off target, sending a heap of sand into the air, before the Tyrannomon could recover, the smaller Digimon was already dancing around it's bulky form, unleashing attack, after attack. Pulling out her digivice, Dainya made a scan.

**Name: Komodomon **

**Level: Rookie**

**Type: Vaccine**

**Attacks: **Ember Fang, Slash Ripper.

'A rookie's beating up on a champion like that?' Dainya was a little slack jawed, watching Komodomon dodge an effort to tread on him.

"What are a pair of n00bs doing out here?"

Looking up, Dainya found a player standing over her, his body hidden beneath a worn brown travelling cloak, his face partially obscured by a bandanna, and the rest of the head coated by a fairly wild, and thick coating of brown hair.

"Komodomon, we don't have time to play!" the user pulled out his own digivice as well as a pair of discs, one red, one white. "Stat modifiers, Power up, Critical up." Pushing the discs pushing the discs into the Digivice, the user watched as Komodomon was engulfed in a red and white light.

"Ember Fang!" With barely any distance between the two combatants, the charged up fire ball punched a hole straight through the larger Digimon, the words '_Critical_' flashed up briefly before the Tyrannomon collapsed into data particles, Komodomon crying out as he absorbed them.

"Target eliminated." The player seemed to be grinning behind his bandanna.

Komodomon looked to be about to give a witty comment, but was tackled down into the sand by an overly eager Lupmon.

"That was so cool! He was all like 'raaaargh!' and you were like 'yaaaargh'!"

The two players set off the 'sweat drop' function as they watched the wolf Digimon barrage the lizard Digimon with something akin to a deadly amount of admiration.

"So…"

"Uh…Yeah…"

---

Dainya watched the sand storm through the window of the small item hut, taking a swig of the health potion to restore her points. Before the storm had hit, the player, apparently named Cait, had brought her and Lupmon here, sharing out some health potions to help them recover from the attack.

Looking away from the window, Dainya took her first proper look at Komodomon. He was probably just a little bigger than Lupmon, if he stood straight, with red scales and a white strip down his front. On his back were a pair of dark stripes running vertically across his shoulder blades and down his back, similar strips sat on the sides of his tail, and black training belts adorned his clawed hands.

"So you actually took advice from an _Impmon?_" the red lizard snickered.

"He seemed nice to me!" Lupmon defended. "I mean…he was so short…and cute."

Komodomon sweat dropped as Lupmon beamed in an almost smiley emote fashion.

"I have to admit, it does surprise me that you'd do that." Cait chuckled, free now of his cloak, the shirt he wore beneath could be seen, along with a dark pair of combat trousers and rather intimidating looking boots. His hands were also now free of the rather tattered looking gloves he wore, lying atop the discarded cloak, and with his bandanna now around his neck, his amused expression was easily seen.

"Well how was I to know that they would programme NPC's to be so devious?" Dainya huffed, missing the shift in Cait's expression.

"Well…it'd be a pity for you to go to through all this trouble and only get a life lesson out of it…I'm heading to the Eniac Ruins when the storm dies down, there's always some valuable treasure there that you could probably trade for a decent amount."

"Wouldn't it be rather…dangerous?" Not that she wasn't tempted, get some gold, trade it for some flashy items…but still, she'd almost been nuked out there.

"Hey, you saw how I handled that Tyrannomon." Komdomon suddenly cut in, ignoring his partner's role in powering him up. "What could be down there I couldn't handle?"

"And it would be a good chance for you to level up with some party exp."

"Party exp?"

"Y'know, when you gain EXP as members of the same party…look just press…"

---

When the sandstorm had finally finished, and Dainya and Lupmon had grasped the basics of group play, the quartet set off through the sands for the Eniac Ruins. On the way, Lupmon continued her barrage of hero worship on Komodomon, who was only too happy to bask in it and relate more and more tales, Cait rolling his eyes at some of the taller tales as he and Dainya discussed people type things, such as why the**(y?)** liked the game and their favourite Digimon etc until the ruins came into view.They appeared to be something akin to a combination of an Egyptian temple and an old room computer, with only the entranceway poking above the sand, the rest submerged, as they set foot on the walk way leading in, Lupmon and Dainya took off at a run, the promise of treasure prompting them to great speeds, which is probably why they fell over themselves when Cait and Komodomon cried out to stop.

"Haven't you ever seen the Indiana Jones films?" Komodomon snickered at the pair, walking past them. "No rushing around and setting off traps okay?"

"What's an Indiana Jones?" Lupmon asked, her tail wagging as she padded alongside Komodomon, harassing the reptilian Digimon with more questions.

Getting up, Lupmon's question struck a chord with Dainya. How did Komodomon know about Indiana Jones? The Digimon were just AI built to be part of this game, despite how impressive they were, this world was all they could perceive, wasn't it? Of course, Cait could have told him. Dainya's mind began to reel with how much work must have been put into developing the Digimon if they were capable of retaining and re-using information like that.

"C'mon, we didn't mean to worry you this much." Cait smiled, looking back at her still form. "The traps aren't that bad, nothing I can't handle anyway."

Shaking her head clear, Dainya ran to catch up to the others, walking now at the back of the group, watching the Digimon as Cait took the lead, watching for traps. Time passed, the only noise from the group being the conversation between Komodomon and the overly eager Lupmon, their voices almost echoing in the colossal corridor, the walls reaching up to support a ceiling so high that it could almost be considered another sky. Following behind, she watched the Digimon, studying them as she called up her thoughts from earlier, she only awoke from her thoughts when Cait suddenly just stopped.

"Something's not right." He muttered, casting around.

"What do you mean?" Dainya shifted to be along side her partner.

"So far I've not had to deactivate one single trap, and this place should be full of them."

"So some shmuchkis up ahead of us. Letting them have a share of the loot in this place is worth them dealing with the hard work for us." Komdomon made a broad shrug.

"Except traps like these reset themselves automatically, so you've got to watch them going out, as well as in, and no new entrantsget an easy walk through…you'd have to actually…"

"Hack the system?"

Looking up, the group spied another player, clad in a grey military uniform, a black World War II officer's trench coat was draped over his shoulders as he sat, one leg over the other, upon a high column.

"You know…Egypt is considered by some to be the birthplace of human civilisation, and Eniac was the world's first digital computer, so these ruins, I believe, are meant to be the birthplace of the digital civilization."

"Thanks for the history lesson, now, why don't you do some character development and tell us who you are?"

From where she stood, Dainya could see Cait's cloak shift a little as his hand settled on his digivice, Komodomon and Lupmon had likewise adopted combat stances, Komodomon's eyes having narrowed to slits, and Lupumon was growling.

"You can call me Eight Ball." The figure rose, his coat swaying, but remaining in place. "Maybe you've heard of me?"

Gears moved in Dainya's mind. Eight was right, she had heard that name somewhere before. She scrunched up her eyes as she focused on pursuing the elusive thought before grasping it and giving a small gasp as she placed it in the appropriate spot.

"Oh, oh!" She pointed up at him. "You're that hacker who was on the news last night! The one who got into Mini-Soft's head office and left the computer's all playing a game of pool!"

Eight ball snickered, before bowing gracefully.

"I'm pleased that my reputation has reached such a beautiful young lady." Dainya flushed a bit, and Lupmon looked a little confused. "As it is, I'm in the middle of my next big job." A broad smile graced his face. "I'm going to hack the servers of Digimon online, and I believe the key to doing so is right here!"

"And why are you telling us this?" Cait spoke with a bit of a flat tone, not appreciating the hacker's smug tone.

"Infamy I suppose." Eight shrugged. "I suppose I want to be able to show off to someone. After all, what's the point of making art if no-one sees it. And, though it may sound cliché," He seemed now to leer down at them, his smile warping into something very eerie and threatening. "I don't think you could stop me."

Before any retort could be made, a roar echoed through the corridor, Komodomon and Lupmon whipping around at the exact moment the cry came out.

"I found his data drifting on the wind, he didn't seem to happy so I thought I'd let him have a second chance." Eight grinned as the Digimon lumbered forward. "I had to modify him a bit though to suit my needs."

Before the group, towering over them was a familiar looking dinosaur type Digimon, but it's colours had been inversed, black scales now with red markings.

"Dark…Tyrannomon." Dainya gasped lightly, looking at the towering beast, larger that the one they had faced before. Then thoughts linked together in her mind. "Do you mean this is…"

Eight nodded.

"I had to resurrect him, and reformat him…but now he's my loyal little pet."

A second click reverberated around the corridor, and the DarkTyrannomon lunged forward with a roar.

**---**

**Keyo – Red Angel of Hope:** First off, I want to thank CrazyEight for proofreading this and highlighting my mistakes and areas where things didn't seem to make sense. What was great about that especially was that a lot of things aren't meant to make sense in this chapter, so it was good to know that they worked out. Eight also receives thanks for helping me get around the glitches plaguing the site at the time of this update.

This chapter introduced Cait and Komodomon, as well as Eight Ball. While Dainya and Lupmon fill up the role of the confused newbies, Cait and his partner are more experience players, willing to help out (even if Komodomon boasts a giant ego.) Aspects of Komodomon's personality was inspired by Masaru Daimon of the Savers series, which will become a bit more evident later on.

Eight Ball is our first villain. As we're working with this gaming scenario, and he is a hacker, it seemed only fitting that he get to play Digimon Emperor and make use of the Digimon around him as his personal weapons. He comes off a bit cliché in this chapter, but there are good reasons for it, I assure you.

A common question that appeared in reviews was how had dot.Hack influenced this story. I'm willing to admit it did a lot for me and Raven in coming up with how it all works, and I actually used the concept of a visor because it looked cool in dot.Hack. (dot.Digimon was considered as a title, but we felt it only applied for so long.)

Speaking of alternate titles, one considered for this chapter was 'Lo, the first tastes of plot.'

No comments from Metal Raven this week, he's been starring in a play this week.

Until next time.

Keyo & Raven.

P.S – I'm very proud of the name 'Eniac Ruins'.


	3. Chapter 3

**Keyo, Red Angel of Hope:** As ever, I don't own digimon and all fan characters are not to be used without permission. Notes from Raven and I are at the bottom.

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Chapter 3: Break! Pt 2

Threat from the shadows, the battle against Eight!

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"Primal Claw!"

"Slash Ripper!"

The two rookies launched forward again, only to be sent flying back into the walls by DarkTryannomon's Iron Tail attack, Dainya running over to her partner, while Cait thumbed through his a set of brightly coloured disc, the stat modifier discs, the same sort he had used to power up Komodomon in the first battle with Tyrannomon's purer form. Eight, in true form to villainous standards, had vanished deeper into the temple.

"Lupmon!" Dainya cried out.

"I see bright lights Dainya…they're all sparkly…" The wolf uttered, head spinning.

DarkTyrannomon roared, rushing at Komodomon once again, its memories of defeat seemed to motivate it to focus upon the smaller lizard, and it had no reservations regarding its new power, its mighty claws sending dust and rubble flying in the air as the impacted with the ground, Komodomon rolling out the way of each of the coming strikes, the gap getting smaller each time.

"Primal Claw!"

Dainya watched as her partner launched onto the Virus Types back, ignoring her own fatigue and damage and clinging on as best she could, causing DarkTyrannomon to buck in an effort to throw her off, forgetting Komodomon for the moment. When the mammalian Digimon was finally thrown, the dinosaur's head swung upwards and it stumbled backward before it could pursue the dismounted rookie.

"Dainya! Leave this to us, you go stop Eight!" Komodomon cried, his body glowing a light red from the stat modifier and smoke wisps trailing from his jaws from the last attack.

"But…" Dainya began, before Cait cut her off.

"Dainya, if Eight's as good as you said he was he _will_ be able to break into the game. We killed this guy once, we can do it again but I don't know how fast Eight's going to be able to do…whatever…hackers do." He gave her a rather embarrassed looking smile. "So you gotta go slow him down."

"C'mon Dainya!" Lupmon staggered upright, swaying a little from hit point loss. "We can take im', if Komodomon says we can…" The wolf sank to one knee, prompting her partner to dash forward, a white disc with a red cross falling at her feet.

"Use that. We'll catch up soon, don't worry." Cait smiled back at her, before returning his attention to his own partner, currently dodging Fire Blast attacks, and pulling a pair of discs from under his cloak, one red, one blue. "Stat modifiers! Power up, speed up!"

Running down the hallway with the restored Lupmon, Dainya caught a glimpse of the red blur that was Komodomon driving his slash ripper attack home on DarkTyrannomon, his rotation far faster than before as his claws dug in again and again, before being thrown back by an Iron Tail attack.

---

Behind her visor, Tanya was starting to sweat, even though she wasn't really running, she could feel her pulse beginning and she was even getting that sick, dizzy feeling she got when she had to run in P.E. She really didn't like running.

She was very nervous, she'd only just started playing the game and now…this! She didn't know how to put it, something big was happening that could threaten the entire game, and she had just been trusted to try and save the day. In the shows nothing this big ever happened this fast!

Well, okay. So in season one they got attacked by a Kuwagumon and Shellmon in the same day, Seadramon too if he popped up before midnight, but the point stands that the Devimon didn't just pop and go 'here's my evil plan' and then do it right there and then.

"Dainya! I can smell him!"

Swinging her vision round, she looked at her partner. That was right, she wasn't plain old Tanya, here she was Dainya and she had Lupmon here with her, and Cait and Komodomon believed they could do it. She hadn't known them long, and that they would place their faith in them…

"Lets go Lupmon!"

That they would place their faith in them, after so short a time, it gave her confidence. And so, trying to focus on that good feeling rather than the terrible insecurity that she was about to go up against a hacker of public infamy, she and her partner continued their pursuit.

---

In a large chamber filled with sarcophagi and old computer towers, and in some cases, a mixture of the two, lit by a single central torch, Eight Ball stood, his arms waving about, conducting an unheard orchestra as his real self worked at the keyboard, the eyes of the avatar looked hazy, looking at a world beyond that of the game. He paused suddenly, arms still held high above his head.

"How nice of the Dune Wanna-be and dragon mutt to give us some along time."

Dainya scowled at the slander of her new friends, beside her Lupmon crouched into a combat stance, ready to leap forward.

"I won't let you damage the servers!" She proclaimed, do her best to look dramatic and imposing without turning into a Sailor Moon parody. "I haven't played until 3 am yet and I'm not going to let you stop me!"

"Yeah!" Lupmon contributed.

For a few moments, Eight fought against chuckling, containing the noise as best he could in his throat, waiting until he had subdued the urge before speaking.

"My dear, you are very amusing. But if you intend to persist at being such an annoying little itch…" He turned to face her, his eyes cold and narrowed. "Then I will have no option but to _scratch_ you."

"How?" Asked Dainya, her stomach continuing to give off warning twitches. "We haven't so much as _seen_ your Digimon since we got here."

"Ah. But my dear," Eight straightened out again, his grin now something vicious and Dainya's stomach did a full flip. "_that_ just happens to be his special ability."

As if appearing from nowhere, a large fist suddenly sped through the air on an extending arm, crashing into Lupmon and sending her flying as Dainya cried out her name, the inky black arm retreating into the shadows.

"One of the principle basics of every game is to be able to think ahead of your opponents, and exploit every advantage you have. My Digimon is capable of moving through the shadows, where he cannot be seen, or heard, or smelt." He gestured towards the single torch flickering in the chamber, then to the darkness and shadows that surrounded them. "I'm afraid no matter how cute you are, a newbie like you stands no chance against us.

Pulling herself back up, Lupmon's eyes trailed around the room, her body tense as her claws flexed in anticipation, a feral look in her eyes as she watched for the next attack, focusing on the walls around her, the dark niches generated by the decorations but there was one shadow she didn't watch, her own. As soon as she turned to face the torch, her shadow reaching out behind her, the Digimon struck, a fist lashing out from her shadow and slamming into the back of Lupmon's skull, grabbing her before she fell forward and hurling her into the far wall before withdrawing once more.

"LUPMON!"

Dainya was beginning to panic. Komodomon and Cait were wrong. She couldn't handle this, Lupmon was having the pixles beaten from her, they were going to bite the dust here and Eight was going to screw with the system. Who was she to think she could compete with him? The man had hacked and wrecked the system of a top computer company with ease; she was just a nerdy, geeky high schooler…

"DAINYA!" Lupmon cried, getting smacked across the room again by the hidden assailant.

She shouldn't have been getting distressed. Lupmon was just a computer program, just a bit of fun made up of 0s and 1s. But she really didn't seem like that, feel like that. Rushing out to her partner, she knew she couldn't really do anything, this body was just 0s and 1s, and wasn't able to fight or defend against Digimon attacks, but she wanted so bad to help. Grabbing her beaten partner, she wanted to do her best to shield her, the next fist blow closing in.

Then vanishing in mid air as the shadow it stemmed from vanished, the room filling up with light as torches on the wall lit up.

"Ember Fang!"

The streak of flame crossed the room again, lighting up the opposite row of torches, before lashing out at the back wall, depriving Eight's partner of almost all shadows.

"Cait!"

"Komodomon!"

The adventuring pair stood in the corridor, the red lizard looking a little worse for the wear after his brawl with the Dark Tyranno, but none the less grinning eagerly, his slit eyes focused on Eight.

"Sorry we're late guys. It took us awhile to give our buddy back their a remedial lesson on extinction." Cait grinned.

"Nice line. Are you going for cheesy super hero, or testosterone filled action star?" Eight smirked.

Komodomon was about to go for what he hoped would be a witty retort, when he noticed Eight's meagre shadow seeming to grow longer, before it began to rise, a creature pulling itself out, a pair of unsettling glowing eyes on a slick ink black head, great wings opening out from the back. Dainya pulled out her Digivicescanning the previously unseen foe.

Name: Eclipsemon 

**Level: Champion**

** Type: Virus**

**Attacks: **Shadow Cross, Nightmare Rave.

The Digimon did not speak, only stirring dust with it's wings, it's luminous eyes glaring at those that stood before it. Cait chuckled a little and pulled out his digivice, the shape was the same as Dainya's with the small square central screen, but where Dainya's had a blue central body with white buttons and surrounding grip, the body of Cait's was black with red detail. A red glow, like a fire, emerged around his hand, which seemed to gently flow into the digivice.

"With the pounding we took going up against DarkTryranno, we can't afford to hold back here." The light surrounding his hand suddenly surged, vanishing completely into the Digivice as Cait held it out towards his partner. "Komodomon! Digivolution!"

The light burst forth from the small screen on the digivice, shining out as a large sphere of red energy covered Komodomon, who vanished within, his voice then ringing out through the chamber.

"Komodomon Digivolve to…"

The sphere shattered, blowing sand out around it as a new form stood in Komodomon's place. A much larger body now, and wings emerging from where the black lines had been on the Rookie form, the body hunched as if unsure if it were a biped or quadruped, the claws so much larger now, the training belts now replaced with thick chains, manacles sitting upon his ankles.

"DRAKEMON!"

Name: Drakemon 

**Level: Champion**

** Type: Vaccine**

**Attacks:** Dragon Burn, Impact Claw.

The large dragon cracked his knuckles, fixing his green eyes on Eclipsemon, his tail swaying behind him.

"Time to turn up the heat." He seemed to almost growl, his voice having dropped an octave and a half into a much gruffer tone.

"So the little candle turned into a campfire." Eight Ball sneered. "But you've forgotten one important thing, all fires burn out, but the darkness is eternal!"

Cait was about to make a point regarding night giving way to day and how dark ran away from light and all when the shadow Digimon suddenly began to move, clasping it's clawed hands together.

"Nightmare Rave."

Eclipsemon's words seemed to have almost been whispered to himself, each syllable clearly pronounced in a cold, malicious voice as he pressed his palms together. His wings spreading, darkness seemed to just materialise before him, taking on a copy of his shape, sans the glowing eyes. The triad of 'Raves' crouched into attack stances, before springing forward, rushing at Drakemon. As soon as it was within reach though, the dragon shot an arm out, the claws fingers reaching out and puncturing the Rave's head.

"Impact Claw!" Drakemon cried as the Rave exploded, his left arm swinging up to tear through the second in a similar manner, before the third landed a blow on his chest, before being ripped apart by both claws, a second wave already coming.

Crouched beside Lupmon, Dainya watched the two champions pit their strengths and abilities against one another. _This_ was Komodomon and Cait being serious. In battling Tyrannomon and his resurrected form they had held back, using stat modifiers to make up distance between them, but now he was lashing out with his own strength, and against a foe who could be considered very dangerous. A Digimon that could move through shadows, and a player who was trying to break into the game itself, this was as real a threat as they could get here, and she wasn't able to do anything but watch as Eclipsemon summoned a large wave of Raves to rush Drakemon, preventing him from advancing.

"Dragon Burn!" The dragon type countered, launching out a barrage of fireballs that tore through the copies, more coming to take their place as each was lost, the tide of foes advancing upon him as they came at a rate faster than the they could be shot down.

"It's like a Hydra!" Cait exclaimed, shifting into his cloak. "Stat Modifier…gah!"

The speed disc was gone, used up in the battle with DarkTyrannomon, leaving him unable to give his partner the edge he needed. Eight grinned in satisfaction as the Raves once more arrived in close combat space, and began trying to pin Drakemon down.

Eight's grin irritated Dainya, no, infuriated. He was acting like a villain from the anime. Pitting an obviously stronger foe against Lupmon, but still attacking from the shadows, wearing Komodomon and Cait down so they couldn't fight properly, using horribly cliché sounding dialogue…surely he couldn't get away with this? Drakemon's cry as he damaged himself incinerating one of the attacking Raves, and Cait's frustrated expression indicated very clearly, that he very possibly could.

Looking to Eclipsemon and his partner however, she noticed something. Even though he was just sending copies in, the Digimon seemed to have to keep his focus to generate the constant waves, remaining perfectly still, and Eight appeared to be watching the dragon, a hand under his trench coat in case a disc was needed, keeping his mind on the enemy before him, to the point where he had stopped his efforts to hack in order to support his partner. They were completely oblivious to her.

So she whispered to Lupmon.

Clutching one of the doubles, Drakemon swung it around in order to bat back the oncoming foes before unleashing his Dragon Burn to wipe two of them out, another rushing in at him and meeting an Impact Claw, before one of the downed ones leaped upon him, keeping both of his arms, the fight preparing to fall into a brawl. Eclipsemon would have overwhelmed him with the Raves, but a fast, furry object suddenly appeared in the virus' field of vision, a claw pulled back.

"Primal Claw!" Lupmon cried, striking Eclipsemon in the face, knocking him back and disrupting his summoning. As the champion fell back, Lupmon pulled air into her lungs. "Howl Buster!" She cried, releasing it in the sonic blast that knocked Eclipsemon back, the living shadow emitting a painful sounding grunt.

Dainya smiled in satisfaction. Eclipsemon and Drakemon were pretty big, and Drakemon's attacks were generating a fair amount of flashes and smoke, and she realised, that with her size, Lupmon would have no problem weaving in and getting a blow in, a strategy that had worked perfectly to disrupt Eclipsemon's summoning.

As Eclipsemon pulled himself up, he saw that the Raves he'd sent out had now been torn through, and Drakemon was launching towards him, propelled by powerful legs. Lupmon, rebounding as she landed, leaped forward as well.

"Payback!" She and Drakemon cried, clawed arms rearing back.

"PRIMAL…"

"IMPACT…"

"_CLAW!!!_"

The two attacks landed, the force sending Eclipsemon flying backward where he crashed into the wall. Before he even tried to get up, however, he clasped his hands together once more.

"Nightmare Rave!"

A trio of Raves rushed at the pair, Drakemon moving to shield Lupmon, taking into the blows laid in by the doubles bladed fingers. Leaping onto his back, Lupmon barraged one of the Raves with her Howl Buster, knocking the doubles back, allowing the dragon to rip his arms free and tear through two with his claws, and roast the third, but looking through this, they could see 4 more Raves standing in a ring, the original standing in amongst them, Eight saddled in his arm, the pair sinking into the shadow generated by the doppelgangers.

"Well this was a fun waste of time." The hacker sneered. "Enjoy the treasure brave adventurers, and pray our paths do not cross again."

"Dragon Burn!" Drakemon cried, unleashing a rush of fireballs at the Raves in an effort to stop his foes escape, his eyes slits once more, Lupmon's fur bristled and growls emitting from within her that fast changed into a howl as she leaped through the smoke left from the obliteration of the Raves, her primal claw meeting hard stone as he pray vanished, but she still rained blows, before breaking into digging, only stopping when Dainya called out to her.

"Lupmon, Lupmon! Calm down." Hands placed on her shoulders, snapping the wolf back to reality. "C'mon, we still have treasure to find don't we?"

"Oh yeah! Treasure, treasure, treasure!"

Sighing, Cait seemed to be staring down at his hand, before the now reverted Komodomon leapt upon his back, throwing an arm around his shoulder.

"C'mon Cait, treasure ho'!"

Sighing at this new distraction, Cait dropped his hand back under his cloak.

"You guys have terrible priorities." He sighed, his other hand coming out as a blue panel appeared before him. "I'll just pass on an alert to the moderators and then we'll get going." The adventurer smiled in a pacifying manner at the over eager Digimon, as Lupmon cheered, her mood completely restored from the feral rage of before, now pulling Komodomon around in a ridiculous dance. Finishing his report, Cait allowed the screen to vanish before speaking. "Okay guys, I figure we have enough time to do a little treasure hunting before the Moderators lock this place down."

There were cheers from the rest, Lupmon's energy infecting the others. Cait's attention suddenly snapped to the floor as a small black object knocked against his foot, the others racing off in their enthusiasm, picking it up, he frowned in annoyance as he gave it a very brief inspection, for it was an eight ball, the kind you found on a pool table.

"Oh that's just cheek." He shook his head, discreetly adding it to his inventory before turning his attention back to his comrades. "No, wait! You're going the wrong way!" he called to the three of them, setting off at a run to try and catch up. "You could set off…"

A loud 'bang' filled the area as a cloud of smoke poured from the corridor, filling the chamber.

---

"Not bad for your first day, neh?" Cait smiled, as he and Dainya sat upon the stone steps of the Eniac Ruins, bags of loot at their feet, the treasure hunting had been reset to it's intended difficulty as with Eight's departure the traps had, as Dainya had swiftly discovered, been re-activated.

"I'll say!" Dainya beamed. "But, I was puzzled by something."

"Oh?"

"Eight said he was trying to get into the game's servers. But he was already able to resurrect Tyrannomon, and he was able to turn off the traps in the ruins! That's gotta require some sort of big… access…thing." Her hands moved, generating the image of a box as she tried to get her point across.

"I see what you mean…in any case, the moderators have been informed, so they can keep watch on the area. It would suck if we chased Eight off only for him to come strolling back in again."

Dainya nodded in agreement, watching as Lupmon bounded over to her.

"Dainya, Dainya!" She called. "Komodomon says I'm strong enough to be his follower! And that I get to call him Aniki from now on!…what does Aniki mean?"

Dainya gave her partner a somewhat blank look, as Cait suddenly got up and began pursuing his partner.

"Oi! Komodomon! Do you think you're Masaru Daimon or something! Get back here you wannabe Yakuza thug!"

Dainya laughed as the red lizard, dragon, thing, fled his human half, laughing and throwing back excuses and boasts of his own strength. Looking down at Lupmon who was joining in laughing, though maybe not quite fully understanding it all.

'Isn't it amazing,' she thought, 'how alive the Digimon seem?'

---

A man wearing a suit looked down at the Ruins, a large Digimon, it's body partially hidden by the large cape upon his shoulders, stood behind him, green eyes gazing somewhat blankly down into the valley. He was a fairly large man, broad shoulders visible through the suit he wore, he remained silently, until a second caped Digimon appeared, he turned to watch the Gallantmon descend from the sky, letting a man in an identical suit drop to the ground. This man was somewhat slighter in appearance, and his hair more fashionable, and he was lacking a beard, his manner was also a little looser than his stiff counter part.

"Evening Kuan, Omnimon." The new comer waved, the bearded man, Kuan, grumbling as his partner was greeted.

"I don't know why you do that when their just programmes. What's the report?"

The younger man shrugged before delivering the information.

"Apparently Eight Ball was making another effort to get into Yggdrasil. He was trying to use Eniac Ruins as a sort of, starting point, I dunno. Whatever it was, it would be easier for him to hack from there than anywhere else."

"And why didn't we know he'd be here?"

"Because his account doesn't seem to show up until he starts hacking. Bit like his name, y'know, can't touch him until we have to."

"And some players stopped him?"

"Serendipitous." The young man shrugged, Kuan only glaring at him.

"Don't be so casual about it. We got lucky, and I don't want that being the case again. Eniac Ruins are now locked down, and I want you to get to work on finding that pain in the ass before he strikes again!"

"You got it boss."

Kuan turned back to glare down at the ruins as his associate left with Gallantmon, now surrounded with an invisible wall to keep players out, and another to trap any hackers…no, a particular hacker, should they get in, the Ruins were more like a tomb.

"Keh." Kuan spat, turning and walking away, Omnimon following dutifully behind him.

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**Metal Raven:** Sorry for the lack of notage last week. I had to perform Pirates of Penzance about once per day, and there really wasn't much to say that I can't say this week with more detail. Oh, and to the Dragon fan who replied, we were NOT doing you a fan service :P

Eclipsemon is my own design. Basically, take a Neo Shadow Heartless from Kingdom Hearts 2, make him stand more upright (lose that hunch pose), and then give him wings, and that's who you got (We can't give you this easy of a description in the story, because we hafta be "artistic"). I also gave him a bit of Chaos from Sonic Adventure (extendo-grab and melding into his element), except with shadows instead of water.

I named the character Eight Ball out of my philosophical views on the eight ball as an omen of death.It's the last ball to go in (symbolyzing the end of the game, or life), and if you put it in prematurely, you lose the game, or "die". For some reason though, I keep seeing him in Ibuki's getup from Naruto than the WW2 outfit (Though they're both cool)

And now that I've bored you with my opinions, enjoy Drakemon's failure to stop Eclipsemon! You knew it was gonna happen.

---

**Keyo, Red Angel of Hope: **Okay, technically this is on time as it isn't past midnight where Raven lives.

This chapter sees the first example of digivolution. While the style of the light flowing into the digivice is similar to the Digi-Soul from Savers, it's really just an artistic point on an idea that you all want know about for ages. We also have the first appearence of the moderators, who it seemed rather fitting to pair with Royal Knights. Kuan is actually taken from the user name of a very good card player I met online, though I still have to read the Chinese tale he got the name from himself. In reference to both the card player and the man from the legend, it fits the character.

Drakemon, as with Eclipsemon, dates back to the Digimon role-play where Raven and I first met. He was the champion form of my character's partner, who originally was a mammalian Digimon based upon Quilava from Pokemon named Scorchmon. His physical shape, I recently realized, is similar to that of X-Veemon, which makes sense as they're both humanoid dragons, but I designed Drakemon before I saw Veemon Digivolve.

This chapter was a bit of a pain as CrazyEight made a lot of good points when he sent me his proof notes, which entailed some thinking to fix. Again though, areas of this that didn't seem to make sense are meant to be that way. There were also more comments about how cliché Eight-Ball sounds some times, which I testify to being Raven's fault as he comes up with a fair amount of Eight's dialogue.

It's a pain though, there are things I want to say but can't until we get further in.

There was no alternate title for this chapter, but if anyone can think of one I'd be happy to hear it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Keyo, Red Angel of Hope: **As always, Digimon is not mine, don't use my fan-mon without permission, and author comments are at the end.

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Chapter 4: Logoff!

The people behind the players!

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"I don't think I understood any of that…"

"Well, English is hardly your forte."

"Explain it all to me again after school?"

"Just as long as you help me with my math work."

"Of course."

The two students walked onward towards the lunch-hall of the rather prestigious Discovery Private High, their class work the topic of the moment, and the four gold bands on the cuffs of their jackets marked them as 4th year students. The taller was Vincent Reeve, who bore a layered length of rather mussed brown hair that skimmed on the edges of the hair length allowed to male students, while his uniform was well kept, his shirt was slightly ruffled as his jacket, royal blue with gold trim and bearing the school's emblem on the right breast, was kept open, the shirts top buttons were left undone, though whatever they could show was hidden by his tie.

The shorter was named Jan Tepes, his uniform hung off his limbs, despite the efforts to tailor it to fit, his 10-year-old body just wasn't meant for the High School uniform, but to his credit, it looked as smart as it could upon his too-small body. He was a child prodigy, hailed as a rival to some of the most talented in his year, but his skills within the English department were some-what lacking, at least by the standards a 16 year old.

"Do you think Elizabeth will have been let out of the headmaster's office yet?" Jan inquired of his friend.

"Well…she didn't draw any blood…so she'll probably just be kept after school for awhile…"

Jan sighed, Elizabeth V. Sidhe was their 'diplomatically challenged' friend, who had spent a whole of 10 seconds in English class, wherein she entered, walked up to Charles Anderson, and punched him hard in the face before declaring she would show herself to the Headmaster's office.

"Oh yeah, remind me to chase Charles down after school for calling Liz a 'crazy bitch'."

Jan paled a little at Vincent's words.

"Do you really think that more violence is a wise course of action?"

"I was thinking more insults with the threat of sever reprimand, both for his comments in class, as well as for whatever Liz punched him for."

"You believe she had a reason?" Jan quirked an eyebrow in curiosity.

"She always has a reason." Vincent nodded. "She's just…"

"A little extreme?" The two 4th year students jumped as a hand, one on Vincent's shoulder, one on Jan's head. "What has my little sister done now?"

Richard H. Evans was two years above the others, and stood a good two inches over Vincent. His style seemed the opposite of the younger boy, his hair neatly cropped and blond, and sparkling blue eyes in contrast to Vincent's cloudy grey. He was defiantly handsome, with the kind of features that created a world shining smile, or a sultry pout, though with his disposition he more often wowed those around him with shining teeth.

"Liz gave a guy in our class a shiner." Vincent divulged as he forced his heart rate back to normal. "And would you stop doing that Rich?"

The sixth year laughed, releasing the pair, letting Jan sort out his mussed hair.

Joining the conversations of this and that, the three headed into the lunchroom. Despite being two years ahead of the others, Rich spent a fair amount of time with them, most of his friends being in the city's private school Richard's parents not believing in the private sector. They sat at their secondary regular table, their normal, the one nearer to the window, they continued going through details of their day, which lasted exactly until a lunch tray slammed down on the table, a bag was thrown roughly under to impact with Vincent's legs, and a living Fury dropped herself at the table.

"MEN!" She exclaimed, causing her male companions to finally react to her arrival. "Present company excluded." She pacified, receiving a nod of acceptance.

Elizabeth was quite clearly Richard's sister. Her hair was the same rich blonde, and though her features bore a feminine grace to them, they were clearly capable of the same stunning effects as her brother, though at present it was contorted in a mixture of anger and annoyance.

"I take it this is to do with your most recent detention?" Vincent commented off-handily, wincing as he received a swift kick to shin.

"The bastard has been picking on Annette again! He stuck his camera phone under her skirt!" As if for emphasis, she tugged on her own uniform skirt, the school having yet to submit to the campaign to allow girls trousers.

"And you thought punching him was the best course of action?" Liz had begun tucking into her soup when she responded.

"No, I thought pulling his trousers down in front of the class was the best course of action, but he was wearing a belt, so I settled for a swift public beating."

The three males groaned. Liz had always had a policy of justice that followed very much along the lines of 'an eye for an eye', a policy that generated a large number of detentions and an equivalent amount of stress for her friends. She had faced the threat of expulsion on more than one occasion and had often only been saved by protests from members of the student body (and in some cases parent's who's bullied children swore to her defence), her astoundingly high test scores were also a facet the school wasn't keen on loosing.

"I'll talk to him after school okay? See if I can straighten him out." Vincent sighed.

"Why do you think he'll listen to you?"

"Because violence doesn't solve everything?"

"Nothing wrong with a bit of violence, swift kick up the ass to sort them out…" Her head shot up suddenly to glare at the boy, making them jump. "You better not screw up okay!" Vincent nodded a little too enthusiastically while Jan sighed and Richard laughed.

"Speaking of violence, how'd you get on in Digimon Online last night?"

"Well, I had a little trouble in the ruins. You see, I ran into a rather amusing person…"

---

CRACK!

"WAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Tanya cried, shooting up right as Mrs Cartwright cracked her ruler off of her desk.

"Stay awake Miss Mills!" The wiry, sharp-eyed teacher scolded. "If I have to wake you once more I'm giving you detention!"

"Oui…" A large yawn interrupted her. "Madame Cartwright."

There were giggles and jeers from the class, silenced when Mrs Cartwright turned and swept her sharp eyes over them all before returning to her place at the front of the room and resumed trying to install a love of the French language in collected teenagers.

Tanya flushed bright red, wholly unused to receiving attention. But, with an ill conceived yawn, her head wobbled as she tried to remain awake. She had succeeded in staying up until 3 am playing the game, engaging in the early missions with Cait and Komodomon backing her up, helping her pick out useful stat modifiers and some cool new gear. Her avatar didn't look so n00bish now, thanks to all the treasure she and Cait had hauled from the Eniac ruins. It had taken her awhile to realise the adventurer was effectively letting her spend more than was her fair share of treasure, having only stocked up on stat discs himself, but he claimed to have put most of his share into savings, having already acquired the attire he wanted. Yawning again, she took to wondering what she would be able to do tonight in the game. Lupmon had yet to digivolve to champion, and she was really curious as to what she would look like. Maybe she would be a werewolf type thing like Weregarurumon, or maybe she'd become something like Gaogamon, her mind began to trail with ideas of what Lupmon's ultimate and mega forms would be like, she was sure they would be awesome…maybe something really big like MirageGaogamo…

CRACK

"WAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

"Miss Mills! I'm giving you lunchtime detention!"

Clamping a hand to her heart, Tanya sighed.

"Mon dieu…"

---

Tanya looked at distinct combination of tired and embarrassed as she trudged home. The teacher taking detention had been surprised to see the normally attentive student, and eventually gave up on keeping her awake.

Tanya was a good student, though very shy and withdrawn. Today had landed her in more trouble, and drawn more attention to her than she had suffered before.

"Well, you're certainly a woman of your word."

Turning her head to the side, dragging it up from where it had previously been hanging facing the pavement, Tanya gave her friend a tired, but cheery, smile.

"Totally worth it though."

The girl beside her shook her head in exasperation, causing her shoulder length dark ahir to swish about her face.

"Your geekyness will be the end of you."

Blushing, Tanya tucked her chin into her neck. She wasn't embarrassed of her 'status', but she wasn't keen on being called on it. She made to retort, but a large yawn obliterated the words. Chuckling, her friend patted her shoulder as they came to a stop outside Tanya's apartment building.

"Do yourself a favour and get some rest, k'?"

"Sh…sure." Tanya waved, the tail end of the yawn still trailing from her mouth. "See you tomorrow Charley."

"See ya Tanya."

Slouching through the door of her home the weary student dropped her bag at the coat rack, opting not to expend the effort to pick it up when it missed and landed upon the floor, and proceeded to drop listlessly onto the couch, placed her glasses onto the armrest and let her eyes sink closed. Never again would she play to 3am on a school night. Right now she would take a small nap, get changed, and then play a bit more, but first, that nap.

Dreams grew in her mind, being the sort of geek she was, they brought her to her game world, and Cait and Komodomon were down and in trouble. Her hand glowing a bright gold, she drew out her digivice, the light exploding outward and engulfing Lupmon.

"LUPMON DIGIVOLVE TO…"

"TANYA!"

The girl attempted to shoot upright, failed, and fell off of the couch.

"Yeowowow." She groaned, pulling herself into a seated position before letting her hand flail around and locate her glasses, allowing her to put the fuzzy figure before her into perspective.

"Oh…ah…Hi Mum." She blushed, had she been asleep this long.

Her mother simply chuckled and shook her head before helping her daughter back to her feet.

"What was I thinking letting you stay up so late last night?" She sighed, shaking her head. "In any case, I hope you've got your energy back, you do remember what you're doing tonight?"

The wry grin on her mother's face jogged Tanya's memory. Her mother knew _exactly_ what she had been thinking when she had allowed her daughter to play her new game until an ungodly hour on a school night. With her face draining of blood, Tanya hung her head.

"When does he get here?"

"You still have an hour. Go and get changed."

Tanya sighed, what had she been thinking when she had agreed to this?

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**Metal Raven: **Not much to say here, this chapter is mostly all Keyo. But if you can find out who is who between worlds, a kudos candy bar to you.

**Keyo:** This chapter has been a pain. It was a pain to write, then I wasn't happy with it and re-wrote it, then I got that back from CrazyEight and had to fix it again and then we had to run some name changes XP

That aside, I liked it because I finally got to bring in Liz and Jan, who I've been looking forward to having around. Liz is your flaming sword of justice, fabulously violent and proactive, I have a strange liking for girls who could, and would, kick my ass and Liz falls into that category. She also fills some of my personal dreams of getting back at the bullies that harass people.

Jan is something of your classic 'child genius'. There a character type I love (when done well, such as Azu Mang Daioh's Chiyo-chan.) I'm looking forward to expanding his background a bit. Speaking of which, Vincent probably has the most extensive background so far, which I'm also going to enjoy bringing in.

Incidentally, I didn't originally have Tanya talk to anyone on her way home, but then I realised she needed some more exposition, and thus Charley was born, named for a friend of my sister.

Thanks once again to CrazyEight for his help, and now to respond to someone anonymous comments.

Kriegel: Thanks for pointing my error with name usage, and as for your complaints about the name 'Pandai' our options were to come up with something original, or parody Bandai, we chose to parody because it made us chuckle and I like Pandas. Incidently, Pandai's logo is a chibi panda.

yeh: This has to be the most scathing, and yet complimentary review I've received. It's sad that I do have grammatical errors, being an English student :P

And to the blank one, yeah, I remember Digimon World 3, and I believe there is a fan made MMO out there somewhere.

Thanks for reading, and see you all next week where we'll have yet another new character!

**Keyo & Raven.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Keyo Red Angel of Hope: **Normal rules apply. Digimon is Bandai's, fan characters are mine, Author notes at the end.

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Chapter 5: Argh!

Babysitting and bullets!

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What had she been thinking when she agreed to this?

With a cry of 'you kids have fun', her mother had skipped out on her, thanks to their deal, and dumped her with…this!

"Woah! You have the complete set of Frontier models!" There was a small crashing sound as two of said models had a harsh meeting with the ground. "Whoops."

And what on Earth had possessed her to let it into her room!?

"It's okay! I'm pretty sure MangaGarurumon's arm is meant to do that…I think…ish…"

Tanya made a mental calculation as the ten year old picked up the battered model, the leg falling off. It had taken her a total of 32 hours to put the model together, paint it and gloss it, and the child had broken it in as many seconds. She really hoped she could put it back together.

"Oh well …Aldamon was a lot cooler anyway." The kid dismissed, dumping the model back on the shelf, scooping the leg up and dropping it by the rest of the body without a hint of shame.

Tanya's fist clenched. Babysitting was far from her thing, and babysitting Robert Bradford wasn't her idea of fun. Robert was, at his best, hyper, headstrong, arrogant, irritating, and clumsy, and didn't make for the kind of quiet evenings she enjoyed.

Her stack of DVD's meeting the floor only served to prove this.

Nudging her glasses down as she nursed her temples, Tanya sought a solution to the seemingly unavoidable apocalypse of her room, true she wasn't exactly neat, but the damage the kid was causing was pushing her past her limits.

"How about we do something where we can just…"

"You have Digimon Online?" The kid cut her off, holding up the game box.

"Well yeah I…"

"Cool! I brought my headset and laptop along! I didn't think you'd have it but, cause_ you_ do that means I can piggy back your system and get in game!"

Tanya watched, a little slack jawed, as the boy rummaged in his bag and produced a silver Pine-Apple Laptop and Digimon Online Headset, proceeding to start linking them up with her PC Tower.

"H…hey! Cut that out!" She called. "You're doing it all wrong."

Fearing for the safety of her well-organised cables, Tanya shunted the kid to one side before reaching up into a drawer and pulling out an adaptor.

"Pine-Apples and PCs aren't entirely compatible, so you have to use an adaptor, silly brat."

"Hey! I knew that!" Robert protested, huffing, though the red tint of embarrassment told otherwise. "And I'm not a silly brat!"

"Whatever you say Bobby." Tanya plugged the equipment in and managed to keep a straight face.

"Don't call me Bobby! It makes me sound like a kid!"

'You are one…' Tanya thought to herself, having pushed the kid to the limit before he went in the huff, and she wanted to play with a clean conscience.

Robert 'Bobby' Bradford was the son of Tanya's Mother's Boss down at Bradford and Bailey Mortgages, and whenever she had to go out of town on long boring meetings, she would always turn to Tanya's mother to look after her child. Accepting wasn't so much brown-nosing as an understanding between Mothers. Children were precious, and you were best to leave their care to one who understood that.

This didn't, however, mean that the boy didn't grate on her nerves, and Tanya supposed she should consider it a compliment that she was trusted to take care of him. The fact that she hit her weak points with an appealing deal was another matter however.

The boy himself was scruffy, as all young boys are; dishevelled light brown hair that could never be convinced to remain combed and brown eyes that spoke of mischief and too much energy. He wore a plain green tee-shirt and blue jeans, trainers upon his feet, his love of Digimon, along with his high opinion of himself, could be seen in the goggles that currently sat around his neck.

"There!" Tanya announced, thoughts of game-play and the distraction of computer wires had eased her out of her state of irritation. "Done."

"Took you long enough, I'm already ready."

And her eyebrow twitched again.

"C'mon, I'll show you how this is _really_ done!"

A second twitch; as long as she had known this kid, he had always boasted his superiority at every game he proposed to play, going into long huffs when he was defeated.

Firing up the PC, Tanya checked her digivice as Bobby checked his, before activating the game and sliding her visor on.

---

Digimon Online Message Board - 

**Topic: I can't get into the Eniac Ruins!**

**WildMoose: ** I can't get into the Eniac ruins! As soon as I get close to the area it's like there's an invisible wall. How do I get past it?

**WhatsupDoc: **Didn't you hear? The mods locked the area down, no-one can get in.

**AwsomeTai: **L0lz, n00bz j00 didn now but the mods! LMAO n00bz.

**WhatsupDoc: **Ahhh, shut up Tai. The Mods only recently announced it Moose, something big went down in there and the Mods are investigating.

**AwsomeTai:** -censor- j00 doc -censor-ing m0ds stpn plyrs form doin wht thy wnt.

**White Sythe:** Shut up Tai. I heard that Eight Ball, that hacker, is who there after. It seems he's made DO his next target.

**AwsomeTai:** -censor- eightball hes -censor-n sucks my hax skilzz r0x0r

**White Sythe: **You are one auto-censored word away from a ban to the face buddy!

**AwsomeTai:** -censor- j00 -censor-ing j00 -censor-er!

**White Sythe: **That's it! You're reported pal!

The lack of any further posts from 'AwsomeTai' indicated that White Sythe had indeed carried through on the threat and the discussion returned to moderators, Eniac, and indeed, Eight Ball.

Reclining in his chair, Vincent smiled at the screen his eyes scanning the posts as he scrolled through the lengthy topic.

'It's only been a day and already there are 4 related topics each at least 4 pages long, each filled with arguments, ideas, and foolish newbies getting themselves banned. It seems Chaos and infamy are going hand in hand…rather fitting I suppose, after all, there are eight points to the chaos star.' Withdrawing from his thoughts, and the message board, Vincent brought up the starting screen for the game itself. 'Things are certainly going to start getting interesting.'

**Now logging in…**

---

"DAINYA!!!"

Dainya was bowled over as Lupmon crashed into her, furiously licking her face.

"You were gone lots longer than last time!" The wolf complained, breaking in her licking. "Much, much longer!"

"Kaiser!"

"Bulletmon!"

Looking over at her companion, Dainya could see that Bobby's avatar looked very much like a Mary Sued (or rather, Gary Stu'd) version of himself. With anime style spiky hair, a green tee-shirt with digital hazard print and familiar black jeans and trainers, he also wore a flashy looking black jacket with a white hazard sign on the back and a set of lightning bolts embossed as facial markings on his cheeks. Of course, a large set of goggles sat on his forehead, giving him the look he had in real life.

A hopeless fanboy.

His Digimon, however, was very interesting. Currently embracing his partner in a far more dignified manner than Lupmon had (though it still seemed rather undignified the way he was spinning Bobby around) it was decked out in green armour, which possessed many smooth curves. The helmet it wore covered up most of the face, the lower half masked by a cloth that came up under the helmet, the same material could be seen covering it's arms and legs before vanishing into the armour, gun barrels emerged over his wrists. Pulling out her digivice, she made a scan.

Name: Bulletmon 

**Level: Rookie**

**Type: Virus**

**Attacks:** Long Shot, Derringer Fist.

"Your pup is kinda…floppy…"

Oblivious to the snubbing, Lupmon giggled as the younger player poked her in the side before leaping up and pinning him to the floor, lapping at this face and eliciting many cries of indignation at the assault.

"She's more than you can handle anyway Bobby." Dainya giggled as Bulletmon seemed to panic at the treatment of his partner.

"Kaiser!" He cried, rushing over and doing his best to pull the overeager wolf off. His objective was sort of achieved as Lupmon opted now to 'greet' him, leaping from player to partner and resuming the made greeting of licks.

"Yuck." Bobby groaned, wiping his face. "And don't' call me Bobby! Here I am the great 'Digital Kaiser Sephiroth!'" He proclaimed.

'Digital…Kaiser…Sephiroth…He's kidding, right? How can someone so short have so big an ego…' Tanya lamented, staring at the kid.

"What sort of name is Dainya anyway…Isn't that part of a song with a kitchen…"

"That's DINA!" Dainya vigorously corrected. "Dainya is a combination of my name and the Japanese word for 'great'." She explained, arms folded across her chest, she was quite proud of her name.

"Sounds like a dogs name…" Kaiser deadpanned, before rattling off his thoughts. "Though I suppose it fits with your Digimon being a dog n'…argh!"

The kid's words were cut off as he was trapped in a headlock, a vicious noogie, Dainya's knuckles grating on his skull.

"Give it up, Sephy!" The girl jeered.

"Th…that's worse than Bobby! Get off, get off!"

"Kaiser!" Bulletmon cried out again, now freed from Lupmon.

"They look like they're having fun." Lupmon grinned, before grasping Bulletmon's head and grating the blunt side of her claws against his armoured skull, causing him to cry out, odd since he was wearing a helmet.

"Ya, argh! Kaiser! Help!"

Dainya paused in her assault and watched as Lupmon had now moved into tickling Bulletmon, some other players actually paused to watch the display.

"Heeeeey. I see ya made out like a bandit. Told ya my tip was good."

Dropping Kaiser who unceremoniously fell to the ground, Tanya whirling and waving an accusing finger at the diminutive form of the speaker.

"You! You almost got us wiped out!" Dainya burst.

"Gotta admit, it paid off though eh babe?"

Impmon cast an appraising eye over her avatar with the new item set. She now sported a white tee-shirt with a smiley face embossed on the front, along with a short sleeved blue zip up hoody. The jeans had been replaced with long baggy black shorts that dangled above her ankles, a red digital hazard emblem imprinted on the lower part of the left leg, a pair of cross belts held her digivice. The trainers, however, were the exact same, and if Dainya hadn't accepted that he had a valid point, Impmon would have had a very close, and violent, encounter with them.

"I, er…suppose…" Turning red a bit, Impmon calling her 'babe' made her think of Eight calling her 'cute'. 'I must have done a good job on this avatar, my real self is so plain…'

"Y'know…I got anudder hot tip recently. I swear it's in a much safer area this time, course, the treasure's a bit less this time, but the way I hear it, it's a rare event for you rookies."

Dainya began weighing up whether to take the tip or not…true they had almost been squashed last time, but Cait had appeared, and they had gotten a lot of treasure…

"Rare event! Let's go Dina!"

"That's…oh…never mind." Dainya grumbled, watching as Kaiser latched on to Impmon, making the Digimon uncomfortable in a manner very similar to the day before.

"C'mon, tell us!"

"Fine, fine…just…gerroff!"

Releasing the purple rookie, Kaiser stood back, letting him breathe.

"Okay. You wanna go into the I/O Jungle. There's an old temple there. If you can get to the centre, there's meant to be some kind of super rare item lying there."

"Thanks Impmon!" Kaiser called, breaking into a run as soon as he had the information. "C'mon Bulletmon!"

"Yes, Kaiser!"

"Sephy! Wait up!" Dainya began her pursuit. "Lupmon!"

"Yay! New adventure! Will Aniki be there?"

"Hey! You're all going da wrong way!" Impmon cried. "Damn crazy kids…"

---

**Metal Raven: **Again, not much to say. I could spend time commenting on some of the reviews, but Keyo has already talked to most of the people by himself. So I'll talk about Bulletmon and his douchebag of a partner.

Bulletmon was probably the hardest of his evolutions to make. We had all of his other evos ready, and we couldn't think of somebody that could turn into all this. I only hope this form comes out decent.

Sephiroth was our answer to the hot-blooded member of the team who will charge in without any tactics. And if you can't tell by his name, he's also the world's worst fanboy. Yeah, we're making a fanboy a major character.

**Keyo:** Well, what is there to say? I rather enjoyed writing this chapter, partially because Bobby/Sephy is so uninhibitedly energetic and destructive and I've never really used a character like him before, so it was a new, and amusing experience.

The forum scene was a late edition. I wasn't happy with what was originally there, so replaced it before sending it on to CrazyEight for editing. It was fun to write because there are some inside references to people we know (one of whom was another member of the RP from so long ago), not to mention the satire of forum spammers.

We also see the return of everyone's favourite informant, Impmon! I am really starting to regret trying to use his speech pattern from Tamers…but it's just so cute!

In response to one review we received…I do note smile because Jesus loves me, I smile because the great Zod commands it!

Until next time.

**Keyo & Raven.**  



	6. Chapter 6

**Keyo, Red Angel of Hope:** Slightly late this week, normal standards apply with comments below and characters and concepts belong to their appropriate their appropriate creators.

---

Chapter 6: Helloes! Pt 1

Dainya and the Temple of Doom!

---

Deep within the I/O jungle, that tangle of pathways and trees, yet another skirmish had broken out as Dainya and her companions encountered yet another pair of randomly antagonizing NPCs.

"Long Shot!"

The bursts from Bulletmon's guns drove back the pair of Betamon, allowing Lupmon to rush in. Leaping, the wolf rebounded off of one of the trees, allowing her to cross over Bulletmon's fire.

"Primal Claw!" She cried, allowing Bulletmon to time the break in his weapons fire, the wolf Digimon tearing into the NPCs, their data collapsing into EXP that the Digimon absorbed.

'Just like against Eight.' Dainya thought to herself and Lupmon once more tackled Bulletmon, the poor machine type Digimon had become used to the outbursts of affection from the Mammal type, they had, after all, occurred after every victory.

"You're so fast Bulletmon! Yup, yup!" The wolf laughed, prancing around her companion now. "Maybe Aniki would take you on as his follower too!"

"Sorry, I only follow Kaiser." Bulletmon replied, he had been asserting his loyalties every few victories now.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Kaiser complained.

"No I don't…" Dainya sighed, Kaiser, or 'Sephy', had been asking the same question for the past 10 minutes, and it really wasn't helping that each tree in the I/O Jungle was starting to look very much like the other.

"I told you I should have led."

Dainya's eyebrow twitched, she went to nurse her forehead, her real self having to work around the visor. She didn't know File Island very well, and was trying to navigate the I/O jungle from the bear memory she had of when she and Cait had taken on the Tanemon Village mission, but at some point they had been turned around and now they were very much on the wrong side of lost.

"Why don't you try then?"

"Fine! And I bet you we will be there in no time!"

---

"I'm sure we just have to go left."

Dainya groaned. She was very, very sure that they had managed to come right back around to where they had just left from, Lupmon began urgently tugging at her shorts. The wolf pulled herself to her full height, Tanya crouching a little to give her partner access to her ear.

"Dainya!" The wolf's effort at whispering was incredibly poor. "I can smell us! I think Sephy is just as lost as you!"

"Don't call me Sephy!" Sephy yelled across at the pair, causing Lupmon to jump and Dainya to sigh.

Getting lost was actually very easy to do. Cait had actually turned himself around a few times when he and Dainya had been through, the girl had just failed to notice thanks to Komdomon's ramblings about their past adventures.

The jungle sat on the western side of the island, with a thick canopy of trees allowing only shafts of light to fall to the floor. Many of the trees wouldn't have looked out of place in the Rainforests, but others, particularly the ones with large purple leaves, eyes on the trunk, and clawed vines, with toasters decorating the highest branches in place of nuts or fruit.

"This would be a lot easier if we could stop and ask directions." Dainya lamented.

"Ask who?" Sephy rebuked, kicking at the ground. "There aren't any players around here, all we have are trees! And I doubt they'd be able to tell us the way to the temple!"

It was then that one of the eye coated trees stirred, causing the four to jump as it creaked and groaned, the eyes that had been closed snapped open and looked around, the vines beginning to rise. The players and their Digimon watched as the claws at the end stretched out and began to point out a direction.

Sephy gawked at the sight, and Dainya too looked stunned. No one could really tell for Bulletmon, though his eyes did widen, Lupmon also looked astounded, but in a different way.

"Woah! You're smart Sephy! Maybe _you_ should become Aniki's follower!"

"Don't call me…oh, never mind…" Sephy threw up his hands and began to follow the trees directions. "Come on Bulletmon."

"Yes, Kaiser!"

Dainya and Lupmon began to follow on too, though Dainya stopped and thanked the tree. She felt rather odd about doing so, seeing as the tree didn't even seem to be a Digimon NPC, but it had helped them.

Trailing through the woods, they occasionally stopped and asked other purple-eye, toaster trees for directions, the trees proceeding to point them on different paths through the sprawling jungle. Not once did they find themselves doubling back around, thought at times they would worry when they would go a stretch without seeing an eye-tree, but eventually one would appear and they would ask and Dainya would remember to stop and thank them before carrying on. Eventually there was a break in the sea of trees and they were confronted with a colossal temple.

It bore a resemblance to an Aztec pyramid, layers forming the structure; the whole construct was covered with thick moss and vines with parts of the stone crumbling with a pair of crumbling HippoGryphmon statues marking the entrance. It struck Dainya then that this was less of a temple, and more of a ruin.

'Just like Eniac.' She thought, looking up at it. 'If that freak Eight turns up I wonder if he and Sephy would be able to irritate each other into submission.'

Her thoughts were broken as the child in question shouted back to her.

"C'mon you slow pokes! There's treasure!"

The sight of the boy and his partner rushing in to the temple sparked a memory for Dainya, and she found her own feet breaking into speed with Lupmon shooting along beside her.

"Hey wait! Haven't you ever seen…oh forget it!!"

Rushing forward, glad that she only had to use the 'run' function, rather than actually pursue them; she was able to catch up to the pair and force them to a halt a little ways into the entrance corridor. The corridor itself was dark save for the light pouring in through the entrance and was at a slant going down into the temple with moss and vines and spiders webs coating the walls.

"There could be _a lot_ of traps in here! You wouldn't want to set them off would you?"

"Yeah, you've got to be careful! Just like me and Dainya." Lupmon sauntered in, arms crossed over her chest in an effort to imitate the superior look Cait and her Aniki had displayed back at Eniac. This was probably ruined by the loud 'click' noise that accompanied the end of her sentence, and the subsequent rumbling, the light leading into the chamber rapidly began to fade and Dainya turned and saw why.

"No, no, no!" She began to cry, running back towards the entranceway as a giant stone slab rapidly descended. She was forced, however, to try and skid to a halt, her hands slapping against the cold stone that was now set in place, trapping them inside.

"Uh…whoopsie?" Lupmon shrugged as Sephy and Bulletmon glared at her.

Sighing, Dainya walked back towards her companions. They were going to have to find another way out of here, assuming there was one. But, then again, this was a game, so there was defiantly some way out…unless of course the programmers were complete jerks.

"Kaiser, I can still hear that noise."

All eyes focused on Bulletmon before spreading out around the corridor, the rumbling noise was defiantly still present, and it seemed to be getting louder. Dainya was forced to blink as some dust from the ceiling fell into her eyes, in fact, there seemed to be quite a lot of dust falling from the ceiling.

"_Haven't you ever seen the Indiana Jones films?"_

Komodomon's words came back to her in an instant, and thoughts of those films came with them along with the most famous trap to feature in the entire series.

"RUN!" She screamed, darting forward and snatching Lupmon and Sephy's by the arms as she passed them, prompting them into matching her pace as Bulletmon drew up alongside them, following the instinctive need to be near his partner. Dainya's premonition proved correct as the giant boulder crashed down from above and began to pursue them down corridor, the four screaming all the way through the dark corridor, lit now only by strange glowing wall moss.

Dainya was once again very glad she did not actually have to run for she filled the stereotype of the scrawny muscle free geek abhorrently well. As such, she would never have been able to escape the rampaging boulder, though as things were going, it didn't seem she would anyway, even if it was a game, the programmer's seemed to have taken gravity into account and the boulder was gaining speed and was beginning to nip at their heels.

"I don' wanna game oveeeer!!!" Dainya cried.

"Daaaaiiinnnn-YA! Make it go away!" Lupmon howled, pounding along on all fours.

"Kaiser, what do we do!"

"KEEP RUNNING!!!" Like Dainya, Sephy was getting far too caught up in the scenario (which would probably make the developers very proud and happy), racing along the slanted corridor.

It was then that Bulletmon tripped, the sleek metal of his body letting him skid across the moss covered floor, his companions eyes widening in shock as they were able to register what his fate was likely to be once he stopped moving. Such was their panic they did not hear the 'click' when Bulletmon ground to a halt atop a protruding flagstone, and as they drew level with him, the floor suddenly vanished beneath them.

"Game over man! Game Oveeeeeeer!" Dainya wailed as they began to fall, the faint light from the moss above blinking out for a moment as the boulder was able to trundle over the gap, the four falling through the deep shaft lit only be the dimmest glow from the moss on the walls.

"Sorry Kai-serrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

---

Min fanned herself with her hat. Her attire consisted of a long baggy black robe; some of her figure was allowed to show through thanks to the pair of belts crossing at her waist, a band sat around her upper left arm, black with white lining, a red bat shaped emblem facing outward. A white mantle sat atop the robe, her hair was long and a dusky red, bound in a ponytail that hung down to just above her rear, long strands wrapping around to frame her face, yellow eyes studying the large chamber they stood in, filled with moss, vines, statues and passageways, the ceiling high above them, hidden in shadows, barely touched by the glowing moss. The hat itself was the same black as the robe, with the broad rim and point typically connected with a witch's hat, a white band sitting upon around the base of the point.

"Did you hear something?" She turned her head to one side.

With a light flapping, a small, round, masked, bat like Digimon settled on her shoulder, red talons digging lightly into the material as it settled in place on her shoulder. The embodiment of chibi evil; DemiDevimon.

"I think I hear screaming." The virus type proceeded to point his wing towards the ceiling. "From up there."

"Demi, that's ridicu…"

She broke off as the screaming reached her ears and a large mass appeared in her field of vision, moving speedily towards them.

"Oh dear…"

Pushing off, DemiDevimon took flight, the force of his launch helping with Min's push back as the two shot in separate directions narrowly avoiding the cluster that impacted with the ground, rising dust and loose moss.

"What the heck!" Min exclaimed from her new position on the ground, looking at the bundle of the players and Digimon.

"My save files are flashing before my eyes." Sephy whined.

"Please tell me you guys didn't set off all the traps upstairs…?" Min groaned as she pulled herself up, proceeding to circle the group while dusting herself down.

"Okay, we won't!" Lupmon grinned up at her, though she did look very sore.

Min sighed, burying her head in her hands and groaning as DemiDevimon settled back on her shoulder.

"Yeesh!" The miniature devil exclaimed. "What a bunch of n00bs."

Dainya's eye twitched, she really hoped that this n00b thing wasn't going to become some sort of running gag. It twitched again when a light emerged from Sephy's digivice.

Name: DemiDevimon 

**Level: Rookie**

**Type: Virus**

**Attacks: **Demi-Dart, Evil Whisper, Bat Flutter.

"He's pretty iconic…was that at all necessary?"

"Sorry." Sephy switched off the scan. "Force of habit."

"Please get off my hat." Min gave off a semi glare as she paused, her voice deadpan. "_Now._"

The four picked up on the rather obvious killer intent and scurried from their prone drop point, allowing Min to walk in and recover the slightly battered hat, flapping it out before returning it to sit upon her head. Looking over the group sprawled upon the stones, she narrowed her eyes.

"Aren't you going to get up?"

"I don't think we have enough hit points…" Dainya lamented sheepishly.

Min groaned.

"The things I have to put up with..."

---

**Keyo: **Okay, so this week's update is late because when I sent the file off to CrazyEight I actually forgot to attach it, and he was awesome and got it back to me on Saturday night, but my account didn't show it up so I didn't find it until this evening when I got back from celebrating my Grandma's Birthday. And that's all from the apologies and excuses.

Again, more character development than plot in this chapter, though we do have the introduction of Min and Demidevimon! Originally they were to have a small part, but I just had so much fun writing them that they're going to have a larger roll in the future.

Nothing from Metal Raven this week, as there's nothing he can say here he says can't be said next week.

Incidently, this is the first chapter since 2 that I haven't gone and edited before sending it to Eight. Ciao!


	7. Chapter 7

**Keyo Red Angel of Hope: **Yet another update and yet another disclaimer. Digimon belongs to Bandai, the custom characters belong to us, and Indiana Jones to Universal Studios. Notes after the chapter.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 7: Helloes! Pt 2

Hello Again!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several introductions and about a dozen healing disks later Min stood shaking her head in minor disbelief.

"So thanks to your great clumsiness, we're going to have to find a different exit…"

"But…" Tanya interjected, thinking back to what Cait had told her in the Eniac Ruins. "Don't the traps automatically reset themselves?"

"You set off the door seal trap." Min began to explain. "That means that door closes, and another one opens. I've been tracking my way through from that entrance, and now thanks to you, I'm going to have to try and find a whole new way back out of here!"

Sephy, Bulletmon, Dainya and Lupmon all shrunk back as Min fumed, pacing back and froth a few steps, nursing her temples as she appeared to be thinking, DemiDevimon took to fluttering near by.

"You've really done it now!" The flying virus taunted.

"_Wheesht _you!" Min seized her partner by the wings, pulling at them and causing her to squeal.

"You aren't helping!" Min then tossed the devil bat at the assembled players, letting her crash into Lupmon's nose, toppling the wolf Digimon over and leaving the two sprawled on the ground, and those still standing looking at the robbed player a little nervously.

"Okay!" She declared. "There's nothing I can do about the door just now, so I'm just going to press on and worry about it later!" And with that, she began to walk off through one of the passages.

"Ack! Hey Min! Wait up!" DemiDevimon cried out, shooting back into sky and flapping after her partner, settling back on her shoulder. "You can be so heartless sometimes."

"Coming from you, I'll take it as a compliment."

"Of course."

Then Min paused, turning and looking at the four following behind her.

"And what do you think you're doing?" She demanded, eyes narrowed with both anger and irritation.

"Well, we're sort of lost too…"

"Are not." Sephy muttered, but his baby-sitter carried on.

"And since we're all going towards the treasure anyway…"

Min groaned, she could see where this was going, and knew she was unlikely to be able to simply shake the n00bs off.

"The things I put up with…" She grumbled into her palm, her eyes lighting up when DemiDevimon leaned in close, apparently whispering something.

"Heh, fair enough." She suddenly smirked. "You can come, by you're taking up positions as my meat shields okay?"

"Wouldn't that be 'data shields'?" Sephy put forward, before being receiving a knock to the head from the irate Min, making him yelp.

"Pedantry is not attractive. Now let's go." And she began to march off down the passageway, DemiDevimon looking back and sniggering as the young player nursed his head.

"Oh come on, she didn't _really_ hit you." Dainya sighed as she walked past her charge Lupmon at her heels.

"That's not the point!" Sephy retorted, dashing to catch up to the girls, Bulletmon following behind.

---

They continued through dark passageways, lit only by the dull blue glow from the moss. They did pass several torches, but they had burnt out and no one had a fire-starting item, nor did any of the Digimon posses a fire-based attack. It was at one junction between passageways they saw a set of traffic lights, currently set to 'do not walk'. They paused to puzzle on this when they heard a thundering noise, the boulder proceeding to rush by them, making Min clutch her hat, before vanishing off into another passage, the sign changing to the green 'Walk'.

"That was…convenient…" Dainya gaped.

"The makers must have enjoyed thinking stuff like this up." Sephy smiled, peering down the dark tunnel to try and spot the boulder.

"Yeah, sure." Min responded with minimal enthusiasm, seizing the child's collar as she passed him and dragging him along.

---

With the occasional stop signs, the only other things the group seemed to encounter was the occasional irate Chuumon, which presented no problem in being dealt with (DemiDevimon commenting on how she adored 3 against 1). Dainya thought it was odd that they were having so little difficulty, but Min put it down to luck, and that it was a relatively low level area.

"The I/O jungle isn't too tough a place. What Champions do live here are easy to avoid, so most n00bs like you guys can handle it."

"I am not a n00b!" Sephy protested. "I managed to get Bulletmon to digivolve when I was playing last night thank you very much."

"A big wet-blanket is still a wet blanket…" Min retorted as the argument and insult match broke out, Dainya going red with embarrassment.

'Bobby's able to pull off digivolution…_Now_ I feel like a n00b.'

"Don't worry Miss Dainya, I'm sure you and Lupmon will be able to digivolve when it is needed."

Turning and looking down, Dainya was surprised to find the masked face of Bulletmon looking back at her.

"Uh…thanks Bulletmon." She smiled a little. "Y'know, you're surprisingly mature for someone who is paired with Bo…Sephy."

"Kaiser has many good points to him." The rookie looked to his partner, currently receiving a virtual noogie after an ill placed remark regarding Min's dress sense and navigational abilities. "I feel that we do balance one another out…" He sighed.

It was probably because she had spent so much time with Cait and Komodomon the night before that Dainya did not re-act in the same curious manner to Bulletmon's thinking. She was still astounded by the digimon's realism, but it did not seem so out of place now, after all, she hadn't met a Digimon yet that didn't seem to have something apparently free-thinking to say.

"Dainya! Make your brat take a nap or something." Min called, snapping Dainya from her thoughts.

"I'm not a brat! I'm Digital Kaiser…"

"Sephy! Behave yourself and stop bothering Min."

"Don't call me Sephy!"

---

A soft click went off, and Min stood up and nodded to her temporary companions.

"It's off." She stated, closing her inventory from the use of the anti-trap equipment.

Placing her hand on the door, Min pushed the stone block from their path, revealing the grand chamber lit with the familiar dim glow of the moss, but it was also filled with treasure chests of varying seizes, each sealed and each, they knew, filled with great treasures worth many Bits.

"You did it Min!" Cried Dainya as she and Sephy rushed forward towards their end goal.

"HOLD IT!" True to comedic form, the players and their partners froze in the exact positions of their charge. "Just because we've reached the treasure, that doesn't mean that we're safe from traps. Take it slow and make sure that there's nothing left to set off, if you spot a switch, tell me."

"And don't forget!" Demidevimon chipped in. "We get the biggest cut for leading you sheep down here! ACK!"

A swift 'bap' from Min rebuked the devil bat.

"Don't be rude Demi." She scolded. "But yeah, don't you all forget!"

Dainya and company executed the sweat-drop function before resuming carefully pacing around the treasure room opening the chests, Min turning back to her partner.

"Go and grab what you can, I'll get to work."

With a wink, the virus type began to flutter between chests, checking their locks for connected traps before kicking them open and shifting the loot to her partner's inventory.

Dainya meanwhile had to keep a hand on Lupmon's belts to prevent her from running off and triggering any traps.

"I don't like being patient Dainya." Lupmon whined.

"I know, but we don't want any more boulders falling on us." The girl smiled trying to encourage her Digimon to keep down her hyperactive manner. "But don't worry, once we've got the treasure we can go back out and you can run around as much as you want on the way back."

Lupmon beamed and gave off a doggy smile as Dainya scratched behind her ears. The player then froze as she spotted a raised flagstone that sat in the way of the treasure chest she was advancing on.

"Hey Min!" She called, turning to the hat-clad player. "I found a trap…"

There was a far-away look in Min's eyes, as if she had taken off her headset, only the head moved, looking at things that the others could not see.

"Min…?"

Then Dainya's mind flashed, remembering Eight conducting in that room in Eniac and the hidden world of code that he had seen. Min's look was so similar, approaching the girl; Dainya worriedly placed a hand upon her shoulder snapping her back into the room.

"What is it Dainya?" She almost snapped.

"I…" She wasn't entirely sure, should she confront her or just ask, she could be wrong.

"How did you do that creepy look Min!?" Lupmon barked into the conversation. "You looked really scary, like that Eight-Ball! Remember him Dainya?" The wolf tugged at her trouser leg, pleading for attention and conformation.

Min paled a little, one of the remarkable abilities of the visor and avatar.

"Ah, well it's a…custom command I managed too…uhhh…"

"The game is up Min." DemiDevimon flapped across to her partner. "They've met Eight-y, so we can stop sneaking around at last!"

"DEMI!" Min exclaimed, grabbing her partner by the wings once more and stretching her out. "We are _meant_ to be sneaking around!"

"We're called '_soldiers_' not spies! I want to fight!"

"You'd compromise all of our work for a punch up? You demi-brained ding bat!"

"Hush up you old witch!"

"Old! Why you…"

"Uhhh…Excuse me" Dainya caught the attention of the arguing pair. "But I take it this means you are working with Eight Ball?"

Min gave off a 'hmph', tossing her partner to the side where she flapped, wincing with the use of her stretched wings.

"No point in hiding it now." She glared at her partner. "But yes we are, and if you want to try and interfere with what we're doing, I'll have to resist."

Dainya gaped, Lupmon dropped back to all fours, hunched and growling as the fur on her back spiked up. She didn't know what to do though, only moments ago Min had potentially been a new friend, helping her out like a grumpy Cait, but she was in league with that hacker, she was trying to destroy the game. There was then a 'click' sound and both turned, Bulletmon's left arm was raised, supported by his right as he took aim at Min's head.

"I've heard about Eight on the forum board, how much trouble the Mods have had with his efforts to wreck the game. I'm not going to let you do the same." Sephy was smiling, looking very excited. "This is my chance to be a hero!" he then cried, seeming to drift off into his own little world.

Min's eyes narrowed in irritation as she looked at the boy and his partner. Sighing, she drew her Digivice from within the sleeve of her robes.

"Demi…"

The virus type smiled as a rust red glow grew around Min's hand, engulfing the digivice, a light bursting out from it and engulfing DemiDevimon.

"DEMIDEVIMON DIGIVOLVE TO…"

There was a second flash as the rust red light lit up the room and a new figure hovered in DemiDevimon's place.

"WITCHMON!"

Her new form bore a resemblance to the well-known Wizardmon, only was distinctly female. She was clad in a dress to match a darker shade of blood wearing a red hat that matched Wizardmon's, only with a white cat marker in place of the skull on the band. Her hands were disproportionately large with pointed ends, held in long gloves that came up to her biceps, the same colour as her dress and hat. Black belts ran along the length of her dress, and like Min, wore a set of belts around her waist to emphasize her figure, as well as a long black cape with a high collar obscuring the lower part of her face and to complete the image, she rod upon a broom.

**Name: Witchmon**

**Level: Champion**

**Type: Data**

**Attacks: **Poison Storm, Aquari Pressure, Baru Luna Gale.

Looking up from his digvice scan, Sephy's face held a broad grin.

"Is that all you've got!" He cried, whipping his digivice up in the air, his hand now giving off a deep green glow. "Bulletmon!"

The same green light wrapped around the metallic Digimon before expanding outward.

"BULLETMON DIGIVIOLVE TO…

DESPERAMON!"

Where the short rookie had once stood was now a humanoid Digimon who would tower over most men. The metal work was gone, replaced by a dark long flowing coat, the ends tattered and frayed, the bare chest beneath was exposed, covered only by bandoliers of bullets. The legs were covered with what looked like frayed jeans, feet clad in bulky boots (naturally equipped with spurs), the right one with a crude metal star nailed onto the toecaps, another bullet bearing belt sat around his waist. Only a single brilliant blue eye could be seen of his face thanks to the shade from the dark Stetson hat, pulled low and also bearing a crude metal star on the left side, as well as the high collar of the coat, the only area where the coat was buttoned up, from beneath the hat, long sand coloured hair spilled out. One hand was covered with a leather glove, but the other was metal, the jacket torn back to reveal a bulky looking revolver chamber that took the place of the wrest. Hanging on the left side, rather than the revolver and holster one would expect of such a wild west theme, was what looked like a large gun barrel, almost as long as Deperamon's own arm. Fumbling, Tanya brought up her Digivice.

**Name: Desperamon**

**Level: Champion**

**Type: Virus**

**Attacks: **Star Revolver, Quick Draw, Revolver Knuckle.

"Kah-hahahaha!" Witchmon cackled. "_This_ is more like it!"

Dust and loose moss whirled around her for a moment before she shot into the air, racing alongside the cavern walls, eyes on the champion bellow.

"Desperamon! Walk all over her!" Sephy cried.

'Line thief.' Ran through both Min and Dainya's minds.

"STAR REVOLVER!" Swinging his metal hand down, Desperamon linked it into the giant gun barrel at his side causing an audible click before swinging back up again, trying to bring the circling Witchmon into his sights, before an unseen hammer impacted with one of the chambers, unleashing a large speeding bullet which flew up, missing its target and causing chips of stone and moss to fall as debris from the ceiling. Desperamon continued to track and fire shots at his enemy, each only causing damage to the ancient chamber.

"Aquari Pressure!" Witchmon raised her arms in the air and the space seemed to waver before condensation became a sphere of water that suddenly shot down like a spear towards Desperamon who leapt sideways to avoid the strike, crying out in pain when the blow still struck, lancing through the right side of his abdomen.

"Wha…" He gasped, looking up at his adversary who had begun cackling again.

"Flying isn't my only trick _paaaard-ner._" She teased. "I can also manipulate water at will, making my attacks very," her arms rose again forming a new, large sphere. "very, hard to dodge. Aquari Pressure!"

With the call a triple set of water spears launched out from the sphere, Desperamon raising his Star Revolver and letting off three shots in the return but the spears weaved out of the way leaving the shots to impact against the ceiling. He swept to one side, able to avoid taking a direct critical hit from the spears, but still crying out as his health slipped away.

"Desperamon!" Sephy cried, unsure of how to help his partner, the battle going far from how he had hoped.

"Dainya." Min snatched the girl's attention from the battle. "Take my advice and simply leave. There's more going on that you're aware of, and it would be best if you and the boy just took what treasure you wanted and let me do what I came here for."

Dainya's fist clenched. She couldn't do that, Eight had wanted to damage this game, and she couldn't let that happen. Desperamon was down on the ground now, Witchmon holding off a final strike until given the order by Min. If they simply left, who knew what would happen, hacking was wrong, she knew that, but there was no Cait to bail her out this time, and Min and Witchmon held every advantage. But if watching the show had taught her anything, you had to at least try.

"No." She looked up at the other girl. "I can't let you hack the game. It isn't right. The Digimon may just be game data, but people still care about them and…"

"I can see you aren't going to get it…Witchmon, remove them!"

"RAAAGGHHH!"

Dainya's cry stuck in her breath as Lupmon charged forward, determined to engage her enemy, despite how low her chances were. Witchmon gave off a crude smrik before rasing her arms, safe in the knowledge that Lupmon lacked the abilities or power to reach her and do any real damage. As the sphere of water formed, Dainya felt a strange twinge in her arm, looking down on instinct, she saw that her hand was now giving off a blue glow, similar to the red one emitted by Cait and Min, or Sephy's green one. The world seemed to slow down in that moment, as she became aware of how close Lupmon had become to the crouched Desperamon, of Witchmon's forming water sphere. As time returned to it's own pace, she snatched up her Digivice, the light flowing into it as she felt her hand go cold, but at the moment, it wasn't her concern.

"LUPMON!" She cried out, the light burgeoning forth from the small gadget as Lupmon's body became wrapped in the same light.

"LUPMON DIGIVOLVE TO…

LYKIOMON!"

In Lupmon's place was a great wolf, easily the size of a Gaogamon with sleek brown fur and a long tail. The collar of white fur remained, the belts now gone from the body and replaced with an actual collar about the neck, pushing down some of the soft white fur, as well as a set wrapped around the lower parts of the forelegs, great white paws bearing black claws. Large fangs lined the mouth and the ears resembled spear tips, pointed and streaking back as she ran, great antennae of hair rose from the crown of her head, flowing back with the wind. With a push, she launched herself into the air just as Witchmon gave the cry of 'Aquari Pressure', unleashing a water spear straight at the new Champion. But Lykiomon twisted in the air, beginning a rapid rotation.

"Spiral Fang!" She cried, her voice rougher now, as if Lupmon's feral growls had become mixed with her normal cheery voice.

As the water spear collided with her, Lykiomon was now indistinguishable, simply a brown and white blur as she spun. Witchmon's face stretched in shock as her attack dispersed, pushed away by Lykiomon's rotation to scatter harmlessly as raindrops.

Her smirk returned though when the new champion fell short on her leap, slamming into the wall, claws scrapping on it as she ceased her rotation and tried to climb, only to be forced to jump and try for a controlled landing, growling and barking at Witchmon, who now taunted her with a wagging tongue and crossed eyes. Dainya, now more aware of the cold feeling in her hand, looked to it, only to be caught by the statistics appearing on her digivice.

**Name: Lykiomon**

**Level: Champion**

**Type: Data**

**Attacks: **Spiral Fang, Raksha's Cry.

"Raksha's Cry!" The attack name bled into the howl as Lykiomon opened her jaws, letting out a typhoon blast that soared towards Witchmon, but as with Desperamon's efforts, the Witch raced out of the way, the attack only blasting the solid stonewalls.

"Give it up!" Min called to them. "I know none of you are carrying mod discs, just leave."

"No way!" Sephy cried back, prepared to enter into another argument and name-calling session with the robe clad player, despite the change in circumstance from their journey down.

Desperamon meanwhile simply looked to his new ally, still trying fruitlessly to blast her elusive pray.

"Can you…carry me?" He asked, using his gun barrel as a prop to stand, Lykiomon turning to face him, her face awash with confusion. "She moves faster than I do, but you are faster still, and with my accuracy I'd be able to get her if you let me ride upon your back."

Lykiomon blinked up at him, her nose coming to sit about the top of his chest, as she processed this. Their attention was snapped back as streaks of water raced towards them, Lykimon twisting about and scooping Desperamon up and flipping him back, his gloved hand snatching at her collar as she began to run, weaving out of the path of Aquari Pressure attack and turning to pursue Witchmon again, Desperamon riding upon her back, his gun arm hanging loose at his side.

"What are they…" Dainya muttered to herself as she pieced together the tactic, before going into her exclamation of 'Oh, oh' as she caught up with Desperamon's way of thinking.

Lykiomon, having reached the wall nearest Witchmon, leapt towards her, who laughed at her.

"Silly pup! Did you forget I'm too high u…uh?" Witchmon's expression changed as the wolf's course brought her nearer to the wall, allowing her to push off again and come higher, still to low down to attack herself, but Desperamon suddenly whipped up his gun arm.

"Star Revolver!" he called, unleashing three shots.

Witchmon tried to dodge again, but Lykiomon's speed was matching hers, allowing Desperamon to make clean shots for her, and while she avoided a fatal blow one of the shots shattered her broom, causing her to tumble from the sky, a second exploding against her chest and speeding her decent.

Desperamon meanwhile released his grip, falling from Lykiomon's back.

"She's all yours!" He called, Lykiomon getting the message and beginning her rotation.

"Spiral Fang!"

"Aquari Press-eeeaaaaahhh!" Witchmon cried as the spinning wolf impacted with her, pushing her faster towards the ground, all the while teeth and claws tore at her body causing her to wail all the way to her impact, cracking the flagstones and raising dust.

Groaning, Witchmon looked up into Lykiomon's open jaws, a clawed hand rising up in preparation to join the large teeth in finishing this foe. Before Min could even cry out for her wounded partner, Lykiomon was thrown back, dark arms emerging from the shadows cast by her, which proceeded to try and restrain her as Min rushed to Witchmon's side and a shiver ran down Dainya's spine as she looked about the room.

"Ello poppet." Eight-Ball grinned, striding out from the shadow of an archway.

---

**Metal Raven: **And now the story gets good! Eight Ball returns, Sephy shows his skills (or lack thereof), Dainya gets her Champion/Adult (for Japanese fans out there), and we start to see the key to the plans crafted by our first antagonist. And all I'm doing is telling how awesome the chapter is and how a few of these Digimon came to be.

Despermon is one of my favorite Digis, especially after Keyo remodeled him with a revolver wheel for a forearm and removable barrels (He originally looked like Captain Bravo from Buso Renkin with RiseGreymon's revolver arm). Lykiomon is rather predictable, she's a bigger wolf. But you get another Kudos bar if you can figure where we got the name of Raksha's Cry.

As for Witchmon, that was Keyo's idea. Witchmon isn't a custom Digi, but Keyo has a place in his heart for Wizardmon and all his evos, and felt like making a female with Witchmon as the partner. We're gonna be trying to make some less known Digimon that we can only find on Wikipedia appear, as well as some of the classic iconic Digimon. After all, it wouldn't be a good game based off of a franchise if the noobs can't make copies of primary characters, right?

And as Keyo said before, Min and Demi/PicoDevimon will be making some more appearances later. I don't think we've made a throwaway antagonist yet.

**Keyo: **This was one of my favourite chapters so far, and also features our first real big battle. It's also the longest.

There are, I feel, a lot of good names in this chapter. Starting with the chapter title itself. I'm willing to throw in an additional Kudos bar if someone can work out all the parts of the meaning. Desperamon's name comes from Desperado, and Lykiomon from the genus for wolves. Both were, I think, Raven's idea.

As Raven said, I am a fan of Wizardmon and when I found out there was a direct female equivalent, I just had to use her.

I'm glad I got to use the line 'Pedantry is not attractive', I hear it far too often myself.

Until next time!

**Keyo & Raven**


	8. Chapter 8

**Final Angel Keyo:** Normal standards apply. I own what I own, Bandai owns what Bandai owns, and Pirates 3 was awesome. Notes at the end.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 8: Helloes! Pt 3

Questions and explosions!

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Lykiomon snarled and growled from where she was held on the floor, the many arms of Eclipsemon emerging from the shadows straining to overwhelm the beat type Digimon, hand clamped down on her jaws to prevent the use of her teeth, or Raksha's Cry.

Dainya, meanwhile, stood transfixed as Eight-Ball, the infamous hacker, strode at a leisurely pace across the grand chamber to where Min crouched by the battered Witchmon, the coat he wore about his shoulders swaying with each step.

"I'm impressed, you managed to maintain your champion form." He grinned as he came within the range one was meant to be in for conducting civil conversation.

Min made to rise, but when Withcmon was unable to do the same, she chose to remain crouched by her partner, looking up at the taller man instead.

"Sir! What are you doing here? I thought you were ordered to lie low."

Eight emitted a throaty chuckle.

"And I thought you were supposed to be winning. Besides, since when have you known me to be a good little boy?"

The deep sound was drawn once more from his throat, and Desperamon contained a growl as he slowly flexed his right hand. It was his off one, he couldn't shoot as well with it, but to drop the barrel of his star revolver would draw in attention, and he didn't want to disarm his strongest weapon. Pulling his body straight, he fixed his gaze on where Lykimon was pinned, flashing his exposed eye across to his partner and then Dainya, trying to draw their attention. They noticed, and the Digimon sighed because he could see the gears of their minds churn slowly, he was glad, and a little proud, when it was his Kaiser whose eyes widened with understanding first (though he was only just able to stop himself from crying out 'ooooh' in understanding) and Dainya seemed to get the rough idea. Her producing a blue disc proved to the gun totting Digimon that she was at least capable of building a plan of her own, simply on the foundation that he himself had one.

'Clever girl.' He thought with a mental grin.

There was no need to try and get Lykiomon's attention. The wolf Digimon was near feral straining against the dark arms that held her, trying to pull free and rush at the group before her, which was exactly what Desperamon wanted her to do anyway. Just then, Eight's ears seemed to perk, as if noticing some noise outside of his conversation with Min, and Desperamon took this as his moment to act.

"QUICK DRAW!" He cried, his right hand snapping under the tails of his coat and whipping out a silver six-shooter before unloading his barrel in Lykiomon's direction.

"Stat-modifier! Speed up!" Dainya's call was moments behind his, a smile just sneaking on to her face.

From there, it seemed to all happen in a single moment as Desperamon's shots (though he would confess that two missed) slammed into the dark arms surrounding Lykiomon, causing them to recoil, the shock loosening the grip of the other arms enough to allow the large wolf to rip herself free, a faint blue glow surrounding her as she moved faster than before, charging her foes.

"Spiral Fang!" She cried, her body twisting into the rapid screwdriver assault as Eight, as if acting upon a pre-cognitive sense, leapt to one side as Witchmon pulled Min down, letting the wolf crash over the small hole she was situated in.

Still spinning, Lykiomon crashed into the ground, shaving a small trench through the stone before snapping back to all fours and whirling to face Eight, racing at him. _This_ was her enemy, and she would defeat him. Arms rose to restrain her again, but she simply twisted her body, once more launching into Spiral Fang as she closed in on the hacker only to cry out as her rotation was forced to a stop as a new wall rose up under her target, and proving far too solid for her to burst through. Slamming to the ground she prepared to attack when a massive stone hand slammed down on her back and as big as she was, this Digimon was bigger.

"It seems to take forever for you to catch on. Try to remember this time, Princess, you must _always _play the game a step ahead of your opponent." Eight jeered from his perch atop the stone beast.

Dainya looked up at this new beast, a cry for her partner catching in her throat. It's limbs looked as if they had been put together with stone pillars, its forearms were too long and broad in proportion to the rest of the body, the hands seeming to simply be a part of them. Each joint was clearly visible and stone spikes grew from its back and blocky shoulders, attached to the torso with thick metal wires, the head hidden beneath a metal mask, the eyes blank,

"That's a…"

**Name: Golemon**

**Type: Virus**

**Level: Champion**

**Attacks: **Crimson Curse, Sulphur Plume, Rock Punch, Rock Ball.

Dainya turned to give Sephy and irritated look.

"You _really _don't have to do that when we already know what it is."

"Sorry, habit." He replied.

Suddenly Desperamon pulled himself from the ground, his stance was shaky and he wasn't likely to remain up long, but he was confident he could make the shot, aiming for Golemon's arm.

"Star Revol…" He was then smashed back into the ground, a dark form appearing from the shadows and pinning him to the ground. One black arm pushed his face into the dirt with long dark claws, while the other pressed into the shadow they created, allowing other arms to emerge and pin his limbs in place.

"The cowboy doesn't win this time." Eclipsemon's voice was the same chilling whisper as before, leaning in close to Desperamon as he spoke, the gunner's eye widening as the sinister tones entered his ears.

"Y'know, this guy is actually made with the temples own data? I just went and used the Golemon of Archive Valley as a template." Eight explained. "Golemon make perfect minions. Every part of their body is made of rock, from the tough, heavy-hitting fists, to the slow, dim-witted brains." He turned, looking down at Min and the recovering Witchmon from his perch. "Min! Finish the job, I'll finish these two."

The robbed member nodded, sparing a glance at Dainya before her eyes glazed over again, tapping into the hidden world.

"You won't get away with this!" Dainya cried, glaring up at the hacker.

"Oh please, as if every evil megalomaniac hadn't already heard that line." Eight sighed melodramatically. "I've won, and this time there's no Deus Ex Kitty to bail you out. Golemon!"

And then Eight vanished, and Golemon's eyes ceased to be white spheres, gaining back their grey iris and black pupil, Eclipsemon too was gone, disappearing in a haze of black smoke.

"Uh, what just happened?" Sephy looked rather bemused up at the still giant.

"I don't…Ahhh!" Dainya's hands clamped to her ears as Golemon suddenly roared, his pupils becoming pin points as he pulled Lykiomon into the air, before hurling the wolf across the chamber, an impressive feat of strength, where she impacted with the wall, crumpling to the ground before shakily standing back up.

"It's gone berserk…" Dainya's word came out upon a single breath.

"Now who's being red…redu…forget it." Sephy reached into his jacket before pulling out a white disc with a red cross, just as Golemon began to charge them.

"Stat Modifier! HP Plus!"

A shimmering light surrounded Desperamon, a small red cross appearing above his head before he pulled himself up, swinging his massive revolver up, along with his smaller six shooter, he didn't need instruction on who to shoot.

"Star Revolver! Quick draw!"

The two guns blazed, firing their large, and small bullets that cracked into Golemon's body, but seemed unable to stop his raging advance.

"Rock punch!" Golemon's words were almost obscured by the gravel filled sound of his voice as he swung a colossal fist down at the gunman, Desperamon darting out of the way in time, but the shock caused by the impact cracked the ground and the shock wave unbalanced him, causing him to crash to the ground watching as Golemon raised his fist again, only to be interrupted.

"Raksha's Cry!" The burst of spinning wind slammed into the brutish digimon's face, drawing his attention back to the wolf who was now charging him.

"Spiral Fang!"

"Rock Fist!"

The two met and Lykiomon was sent flying, skidding along the ground and crashing into Min and Witchmon.

"Hey watch it you walking pile of rubble!" Witchmon cried, shaking a fist at the creature. "Jeeze, what sort of plan was this Eight ha…" Snatching her partner, Witchmon hurled herself to one side as the stone fist cracked down where they had once been standing, Lykiomon darting in the opposite direction.

"Unholy halibut, that thing really _has_ gone berserk! What in hell was that pool playing crackpot thinking!" Min cried as Witchmon rolled to a stop, the two of them looking up at the stone berserker.

"Unholy halibut?" Witchmon raised an eyebrow at her partner as she pulled herself up, slowly thanks to the strain of hit point loss. "What sort of U rated shi-"

"Rock Ball!"

In a swift, if clumsy, movement, Witchmon and Min pushed off against one another allowing the hunk of floor to fly past them, Golemon's sheer brute strength allowing it to sail across the chamber and shatter upon the far wall. The rampaging Digimon then roared in pain.

"Star Revolver!" Back up, Desperamon opened up with his main weapon, taking care to aim now as he struck out at Golemon's head

"Blast im' Desperamon!" Sephy cried, practically dancing as he cheered on his partner.

'Good thing we can't really be hurt here.' Dainya thought as she gave Sephy a rather critical eye. 'This kid just can't help but make noise.'

"Sulphur Plume!" Golemon cried in a gap between bullets, releasing the super heated sulphur gas from its mouth and bathing Desperamon in it, his health decreasing under the assault and his vision obscured, several shots puncturing the sulphur in a rather random fashion. A loud howl suddenly punctuated the room as Lykiomon threw herself at her foe, quickly shifting into spiral fang and driving into his back and causing it to cry out thus disrupting his attack.

But retribution was swift as Golemon turned and seized the wolf Digimon, throwing her at Desperamon who managed to sidestep the flying mammal, but his eye widened as he saw Golemon rip another hunk of earth and stone from the ground.

"Rock Ba-"

"Aquari Pressure!" Witchmon suddenly cut in, the spear of water striking Golemon in the head, causing him to falter and drop the giant rock. Clutching her side, her health in the red, Witchmon smirked.

"Don't count me out yet, I'm not letting you away that easy!" Golemon bowed down, clutching the rock one more, his waist seeming to rotate as he gathered momentum to throw the rock at his former ally. "Okay! I'll let you away! Count me out, count me out!"

Suddenly the rock erupted as a burst from the Star Revolver cut through, Golemon actually finished the throwing motion before turning to give Desperamon an incredulous look before receiving another bullet from the Star Revolver to his head.

"What's with this guy?" Min cried, stomping her foot. "What the hell did Eight make him from?"

Dainya wanted to know the same thing as Golemon continued to soak up Desperamon's efforts, slowly advancing towards the gunslinger despite the constant rate of fire. From her vantage point, Dainya noticed a strange blemish upon Golemon's back, what looked like a crack. Running around, she saw there indeed a set of cracks, not too long or deep, but definitely a sign of damage, right at the point where his torso and pelvis connected, right on the large, exposed, joints. Rather naturally, something went click in her brain.

"Lykiomon! You've got to-"

"Crimson Curse!"

A giant cloud of red gas suddenly erupted from Golemon's back, Dainya shielding her face on reflex as the gasses filled the room.

"Sulphur Plume!"

Adding the sulphur streaming from his mouth, the chamber quickly began to fill with the vicious gasses that began to chip away at everyone's health.

"Grah! Kaiser, where are…" Clutching at his one eye, Desperamon was cut short as Golemon's Rock Fist smashed into his torso. As he landed, he opened fire on where he thought the blow had come from.

"Watch it!" Witchmon's voice cried out. "I'm weak enough as it is!"

'You're hardly our ally…" Desperamon grumbled internally, moving his gun through the deadly fog.

"How are we supposed to find im'!?" Sephy cried out, his eyes only encountering the dark red fog as he turned in all directions.

Dainya too was becoming frustrated; it was almost a wall her visor was presenting her with as she stared into the smog. She had an idea now for taking out Golemon, but it was pretty useless when they could see him. The little 'click' resonated in her mind again.

"Lykiomon!" She called, sure she would have gagged on the smoke had she really been there. "Use Raksha's Cry!"

"Rrrrgghight Dainya!" Lykiomon replied, though from where she didn't know, and moments later there came the howl

"Raksha's Cry!" A miniature tornado burst forth from the wolf's mouth, blowing the smoke outward to the edge of the chamber, exposing their foe, upon whom she promptly turned the attack, the streams of sulphur from Golemon's mouth and gases from his back streamed behind him under the force of the wind.

"Desperamon! Attack his joints!"

"Right Miss Dainya!" Lifting the star revolver, Desperamon took aim at the joints in Golemon's arms, the large bullets sending large cracks through the arms on the first impact, with the follow up shots severing one arm clean off and shattering the other.

"Lykiomon! Go for his gut!" Dainya began to wave at Golemon's abdomen, trying to indcate the area where it joined to the pelvis. "Spiral Fang! Use Spiral Fang!"

The wolf Digimon nodded in acknowledgement, running forward before leaping and spinning.

"Spiral Fang!" She cried.

"Sulphur Plume!" It cried, opening its jaws wide and unleashing the burning gas.

"Aquari Pressure!" The spear of water matched Lykiomon's speed, coiling into her rotation and becoming a kind of shield as she passed through the sulphur.

"Teach you to mess with me!" Witchmon snarled as she maintained the stream of water, watching as Lykiomon's rotating form crashed into Golemon's lower body, the stumps that were his arm proving to be of no use. Focusing, she shaped the water encircling Lykiomon, changing it from a shield into something akin to a drill head, helping her bore through Golemon who cried out in pain as the wolf tore through, landing upon all fours as she scattered rock upon breaking through.

Sulphur and gas poured from the massive wound and Golemon's mouth as it sank to its knees before exploding into thousands of data particles, the sulphur and gas left within the chamber fading away. With a rasping sigh, Lykiomon sank to her knees before fading back into Lupmon, the same happening to Desperamon as he first crumpled to his knees, supporting himself on his gun barrel before fading into Bulletmon.

"Dainyaaaaa…I'm tired n' hungry…" Lupmon whined, lying face down on the temple floor, rushing to her partner's side, Dainya laughed as she threw her arms around the wolfs smaller form.

"That was some good thinking there, Dainya." Snapping her head up, Dainya looked at Min with…well, it was a look of some sort. The hat-clad player smiled placidly, a tired and battered looking DemiDevimon cradled in the nook of her arm. "We're in no condition to fight, and I suppose we owe you one now."

"Ah, I could have taken that brute." Demidevimon tiredly flapped a wing in the air, which was suddenly seized by her partner along with the other before she was once more stretched out.

"I don't care how tired and wounded you are, you've got to start showing people respect!"

"Arrrggghhh! Let go of me you hag!" The Digimon wailed.

"Who are you calling a hag you deformed bauble!?"

"You, you old witch! Or should I say old bi-"

"Excuse me."

The fighting pair stopped in their squabbling, looking over at Dainya who now held Lupmon upright, half supporting, half hugging her partner.

"What are you going to do now?" She asked, a nervous twitch in her gut as he looked over at Min.

"As said, we owe you one." Min casually threw Demidevimon to one side where she hovered for a moment before settling into Min's arms again. "The least we can do is leave you in peace for now." Turning, she began to walk away towards one of the tunnels, the sound of her boots clipping the stone flags sounding much too loud Dainya felt. "But, the next time we meet, if you try and stop what we're doing... Our work is far too important and I can't just let you stop us."

"But, you're hackers! You're trying to damage the game you…" Min smiled in response to Dainya's shouts, giving a small shake of the head.

"Maybe you'll see one day. Goodbye."

A sky blue shimmer surrounded Min as she and Demidevimon became fragmented, the words 'Log-Out' flashed in their place.

For a few moments, Dainya stood there in silence, which was punctuated only be Sephy's rather over eager recounting of Bulletmon's role in the battle, simply holding onto Lupmon and staring at the space where Min had been moments before. She didn't know what to feel or think of the girl, especially after her ominous remark. What exactly had she meant by their work being 'too important'?

"Dainya?" Lupmon lifted her chin to look up at her partner. "Is Min our friend like Aniki?"

"I…don't know Lupmon." Dainya shook her head, setting her partner back down on the ground. "I don't know." Turning around, she called over to Sephy. "C'mon Sephy, let's just get out of here."

Stopping in his performance of Desperamon's sharp shooting, Sephy scowled at the use of the 'nickname'.

"But what about the treasure?"

"Well, I suppose we could…"

A deep rumbling suddenly filled the chamber, causing the group to look to the various ways leading in, eyes widening as the noise became familiar, though louder than before.

"I think we should start running." Dainya tugged at Lupmon, trying to work out a safe direction.

"That sounds like a good plan Miss Dainya." Bulletmon nodded.

"Yeah…" Sephy took slow paces in a circle. "Who needs treasure?"

Their screams of panic filled the chamber as boulders trundled in from various points, crashing around the chamber as the players and Digimon run in a fashion which very accurately portrayed the simile 'like headless chickens' as they strived to preserve their damaged points and escape the trap filled ruins.

---

It was sometime later when they managed to arrive back in Root Town, a fair amount of their health lost, but otherwise there didn't seem to be any detrimental effect upon Sephy and Lupmon, who excitedly pranced around one another acting out the battle once more, as well as their escape from the boulders.

"You seem troubled Miss Dainya." Bulletmon looked up at the girl, breaking her from her pensive stare into nowhere.

"Huh, oh, sorry Bulletmon. I was just, thinking things over." It wasn't a lie, but she didn't feel comfortable speaking about what Min had said, and she doubted Bulletmon could help anyway.

"I see. It certainly was different from how I envisioned things would go. I must say I was impressed by your quick thinking in the battle."

"Same here." She smiled at the metallic Digimon. She suddenly twitched, as if hearing something the others could not, Sephy displaying a similar look. Her eyes went vacant for a moment as she removed the visor, before snapping back into this reality; her mouth moved emitting muffled sounds. "Sephy, that's my mum. It's time to go."

"Awww man." Both Sephy and Lupmon whined.

"You gotta go too?" The wolf whined, nuzzling at her partner.

"Yeah, but I'll be back tomorrow okay?"

"Is that a long time?"

"Not too long. Take care okay?"

"Bye Bulletmon!" Sephy waved.

"Take care Kaiser!"

With the flash of blue data fragments, the words 'log out' flashed in their place.

---

Coat flapping in the breeze, Eight looked out over the jungle ruins, his coat flapping around his muscled form in the wind, the perfect image of a cool control ruined by being smacked upside the head by a girl in a witch's hat.

"What the hell sort of plan was that!" Min yelled.

"Yeah pot head, now I owe someone! I never owe someone!" DemiDevimon raged, dancing with clawed talons upon his head.

"Ack, ack, ack, ack! Cut it out!" Eight waved his hands at the offending Digimon.

A second smack was delivered to the back of his head. It didn't matter that it wasn't hurting him, but it made Min feel better.

"Where the hell did you go?"

Succeeding in dislodging DemiDevimon, Eight straightened his coat out before turning to his ally.

"I had a technical problem at home and it resulted in a forced log out."

Min scrutinized his features, turning her sharp eyes over him.

"I thought you were some kind of genius…how could you have had 'technical difficulties?'" She jabbed at his chest.

"You know what I said about a Deus Ex Kitty not saving them? Well," he released a small, embarrassed cough. "It did. My cat went and pulled out my power cable."

Min released a small snort.

"Oh you're a genius alright. And was having Golemon trash everything part of your plan too?"

"Pretty much." He admitted.

A third smack to the head.

"Ah, he went after you too. He wasn't meant to do that." He proceeded to mumble some things about code, which would have been very interesting to Min if she weren't so mad at him.

"Damn right he did!" Min continued to rant. "We all had to gang up to take him down. I am not taking the rap for you on this! As far as I'm concerned, this failure was your fault and that's what we're telling the boss!"

"You can't do that!" Eight protested as Min stormed off. "I wasn't even meant to be here, you know what sort of trouble I'll get into."

"That's your problem!" Min waved, DemiDevimon drifting along beside her.

"C'mon! I saved you! Min!…Min!"

---

"All packed up Robert?"

"Yes Mrs Mills."

Slinging his backpack onto his back, and clipping his digivice onto his belt, Bobby turned to Tanya.

"Thanks for playing with me Tanya." He smiled. "You know some interesting places! Next time you baby-sit we've got to play again!"

Indicating for the young boy to scoot, Mrs Mills directed the boy out of the door before turning to her daughter.

"Seems you had an easier time than you thought. Maybe you should baby-sit again." She winked.

"I…I guess, he's not _that_ bad." Tanya conceded.

"Remember Tanya, you owe me for saving you in the temple!"

Tanya's eyes snapped into a scowl as she whirled to glare at the young boy.

"What do you mean saving me! What did you do?"

"Me and Desperamon did all the work!"

"Desperamon did a lot of the work, you just stole Rika's lines!"

"Don't be jealous Tanny!"

"Don't call me Tanny!"

---

**Keyo: **This chapter is dedicated to CrazyEight, who, as you all should know, is a great author and our benevolent Beta Reader. Without his help, my work wouldn't have gotten to this level and he's really helped in encouraging me to keep going when I worry that I might be slipping up, his name also corresponds with this chapter number. Be sure to read his work okay?

I have never been so thankful to finish a chapter. Not that I didn't enjoy writing this one, it's just taken a long time to get done as it came up in the middle of trying to study for my exams. It was also the closing part of the 'Helloes' storyline, and I was really happy to see it come to a conclusion. I love Min and DemiDevimon, and I'm a bit sad to see them go…for now.

That battle with Golemon was really fun to write. I chose to use him because he's got a really good range of attacks and has a really intimidating appearance. I really hope it was fun to read, as I know battles can be tiresome to read if not done well.

And now back to work on the next set of chapters, as due to work and procrastination, I need to rebuild the chapter buffer.

**Metal Raven: **Guess what folks? It just got better.

I enjoy reading through these chapters to try and come up with imaginative phrases for Eight to say (or, at the very list, imaginative twists on cliches). I also wanted him to have a reason for why the superior big villain would suddenly turn tail and leave the heroes alive. My original idea was for 8B to be in college and have a dormmate who needed to borrow the computer, but Keyo wanted him to have a whole mesh of computers networked together to aid him in his hacking. Thus, I gave him a pet. For those who care, the cat's name is Train, and two kudos bars if you know why.

Pretty soon, we'll be starting a real story arc, as opposed to this stuff we've been dishing out, which is mostly character introduction. (think about it, you've only had one chapter in all these that didn't introduce a new person) But first, we gotta get our buffer back.

13


	9. Chapter 9

**Keyo-Red Angel of Hope:** Protocol is standard; we own what we own and that ain't what Bandai owns. Notes follow the story just as anvils follow cartoon characters.

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Chapter 9: Sidequest!

Has anyone seen my Cait?

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Eyes narrowed, a young woman glared up at the jungle ruins, arms folded across her chest in indignation. She was clad in the smart suit that had become a sort of uniform amongst the moderators, though hers was decidedly plain, grey jacket, trousers, tie, white shirt, long black hair tied back into a bun.

"You're late Miguel." She spoke out, turning to face the young man in the matching suit, backed by Gallantmon.

"Must you be so unimaginative Elaine? Here my name is Duke."

Not amused, Elaine kept her focus on the ruins.

"This is two areas we've sealed off now, in two days, not to mention all of the disturbances caused in the past, care to explain why one player has been able to cause so much bother for us?

"Yeesh, you're as bad as Kuan." Duke sighed. "And according to the report the player sent in, he isn't working alone."

"There is a definite confirmation this time?" Elaine's eyebrow raised up, her head turning sharply to once more face her co-worker.

"The player didn't give a name, but there was a player in the temple apparently attempting to hack in the same manner as Eight Ball. When Eight himself arrived it was to back them up and there was definite co-operation between them." She was facing him now, eyes narrowing and scrutinizing him, applying pressure to try and force out falsehood, only to receive a cheeky, flirtatious, raise of the eybrow.

"So they might really exist then." She turned back to the ruins, her tone maintaining its curt, professional sound. "I'll inform the administrators immediately"

"There's one more thing." Juan interrupted, causing her to pause in logging off. "The player who submitted the report was present at Eight's last appearance."

"More than a co-incidence you think?"

"It could be. I'll run her down and talk to her."

"Good. I'll let you deal with that. Is there anything else?"

She was scrutinizing him again, pressurising him for anything he might be holding back. The name 'Duke' was a definite indication of the moderator's flamboyancy, and he had more than once decided to play 'maverick detective'.

"Yeah, why do you use your real name for your avatar?" Duke grinned, causing Elaine to scowl.

"We aren't here to play, this is work. I don't have time for fun and games."

"What if we went out for a drink? Would you have time then."

In response, Elaine logged off, vanishing in a blur of light blue pixels, Duke merely sighed, turning to the towering knight behind him.

"Well Gallantmon, we still have work to do."

The Digimon remained unresponsive as always, causing the moderator to sigh again before a small beeping sound caught his attention. Calling up the messaging function, the message appeared before him, projected into the air by his digivice.

-Pick me up at 19:00- It read.

Smiling, Duke began to walk in the direction of Root Town.

---

The funny thing about Joe's Convenience Store is that _no-one_ who works there is actually called Joe. Most people who hear this jump to the conclusion of 'I guess the guy who started it is called Joe', thinking that way back when some handle-bar moustachioed guy named Joe set up the store back when all photographs were sepia. This is not so. The store was opened roughly 12 years ago by a guy named Ronald Arkwright, a man with a head for numbers and an intimate knowledge of his customers that allowed him to persuade them into buying much more than the pint of milk they had come in for. And it was here, and for him, that Tanya worked as a shop assistant.

Clad in black slacks, a baggy white tee-shirt, trainers, all wrapped up in the stores very own green cotton apron, Tanya enjoyed the lull in customers by leaning back against the counter, sipping on a carton of milk. Her brown hair was tied back and she pushed her glasses up with her free hand, her eyes focused on the screen hanging from the corner of the wall. It had been six days since the incident at the jungle ruins, and the girl had been rather anxious upon each of her visits to the Digimon world since. Though she was able to push the thoughts aside easily enough at school, or at work, when she looked at her computer they came. She thought about Min mostly, of how friendly she had seemed, even when they found themselves as enemies, and of how amazingly vague she had been before leaving. For now though she was keeping her thoughts at bay thanks to that magic box called Television, and even though the show was about to discuss the Digimon game, her geek driven eagerness and joy overshadowed her thoughts as an abbreviated version of the show's intro theme played, the peppy rock song faded out revealing a studio full of TV screens and PCs and games consoles, along with an abundance of props to give the studio the appearance of a steam powered factory. The camera focused in on a man in a lush red chair

"Hello and welcome back to Gamer's Point," the dark haired figure on screen beamed at the camera from his lush red armchair, smiling to all of the viewers. "with me now is our next guest, Cecil Jones, one of the lead members of Pandai's programming team for the top selling game, Digimon Online, please welcome Cecil Jones!"

The camera panned out as the studio audience gave off a round of applause and some cheers while the television viewers got their first view of the guest in a second red chair. In a word, he was scruffy. His white work shirt was crumpled and the top two buttons left undone and his black trousers showed a similar lack of having been ironed, his footwear was even less formal, a pair of battered trainers. He was not un-handsome, but his mess of dirty blonde hair and the apparent whiskers growing from his chin gave him an appearance comparable to Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, and if the fluff visible on his attire was any indicator, there was definitely an animal in his life, and the dark marks under his eyes were an equal indicator of his lack of sleep.

"It's great to be here Adrian." Cecil reached across, shaking the presenters hand.

Settling back in his chair, one leg crossed over the other with his fingers laced before him, Adrian settled into his questioning.

"So Cecil, we know why you're here, but why don't you tell our audience?"

"It's because I need the money." The programmer replied with a straight face, causing chuckles and laughs to spring from the audience and staff, Adrian himself taking a few moments to get over his snickering. "No, no…really it's all because of the new expansion that we're planning to release in a months time."

There were several 'oooh' type sounds from the audience and the sound of Tanya gagging on her milk in the store.

"So how long has this been in the works then?" Adrian pushed, teeth showing in a beaming smile, part show host, part eager geek.

"Would you believe me if I told you only a year?" Cecil chuckled, rubbing at his eyes and letting out a yawn. "Whell…" He spoke into the end of the yawn. "Maybe you can."

"A lot of all nighters then?"

"A lot. I think we own the controlling share in the world's coffee industry."

More chuckles, less so than with the first joke, Cecil himself smirking into this one.

"So what can you tell us about this upgrade then?"

"Well…" Cecil shifted so he was now leaning forward. "I can't tell you the name yet, our PR guys are still arguing about it, but we're going to be adding in new lands to explore as well as factional careers."

"Factional careers?"

Cecil smiled, enjoying the way he was able to lead the conversation.

"Basically, you'll get to be one of the good guys, or one of the bad guys. A lot of it is meant to be 'hush-hush' though as it's all to do with the plot we've chained some writers up to work on."

"Plot in an MMO?" Adrian exclaimed with mock shock.

"Well, let me just say we've got something very, _very_ big in development." The programmer's smile widened before becoming consumed in a yawn.

A ringing noise made Tanya jump, before setting down the milk carton (reconsidering and proceeding to stash it under the counter) before fumbling with the remote control and muting the television as a customer entered the shop.

Whipping her head around, she tried to call to mind all of Mr Arkwright's advice and instructions on selling as much stuff to customers as possible. Stretching her face into a smile (Mr Arkwright first rule was that a smile sells) and turned to greet her customer.

"Oh…it's you Charley." Her smile immediately drooped and she settled back into watching TV, pulling back out her milk carton and reached for the remote.

"What do you mean 'just me'?" Her friend scolded with a good-natured pout, pacing across the floor space to slump on the counter, dropping her kit bag to the floor.

"You're not a customer." Tanya smirked. "And Mr Arkwright says…"

"Not to waste time on loiterers." Charley finished. Sighing, she pulled her head back up and scanned the rows of shelves behind her friend. "Gimmie an apple juice." She instructed before slumping back to the countertop, resting her head upon her arms.

"Of course Miss." Tanya flashed the smile before pulling a carton of juice from the shelf and depositing it. "That'll be 50 cents Miss, but could I interest you in some biscuits to go with it?"

"You are but a Padawan." Charley scolded, digging 50 cents out from her purse and passing them over before pulling the straw free and plunging it into the carton. "My mind is too strong."

Tanya chuckled as she plunked the pair of quarters into the till, before mirroring her friend's posture, complete with the positioning of her carton of milk.

"A star wars reference, and you call me a geek." She chided.

"That's because you are." Charley retorted, pulling away from her straw. "And you were the one who made me watch those films remember?"

Tanya gave an amused snort and stuck her tongue out at her friend.

"You win this round Peppy Shortskirt. How was practice?"

The cheerleader groaned, nursing her temples.

"If I never see another pyramid again it'll be too soon." She took another draw from the apple juice. "Julia's become demented ever since the play-offs started, training and drills and…and…" Her head thumped back down onto her arms. "You geeks are lucky." She groaned. "Your problems are simple an non-exhausting…"

'Yeah…' Tanya thought, sipping at her milk. 'Simple…'.

---

For six days, Tanya has hopped to run into Cait, the cloaked adventurer she met on her first day, hoping he could help her find some kind of answer to the questions her encounter with Min had given her. While she still had fun, her choice of quests had been orientated towards risky treasure more than she would have thought to tackle on impulse, hoping to find the treasure hunting pair. Her search had been fruitless, never finding the one who she sought.

It was only the night before that she had thought to actually use the forum boards and ask for him to contact her, or at least to see if anyone could find him for her.

Digimon Online Message Board – 

**Topic: Cait?**

**Dainya: **Hey um…I'm looking for a player called Cait who I met a few days ago, and if you're reading this I'd really like to talk to you. Or, y'know, if someone else knows where I can find him, could they tell me?

Thank you.

**Gr8Davis:** wht u wnt wth a n00b lik that? He has a n00b censored name.

**Ark: **What sort of player is he? There are places different player types hang out because they offer a different variety of hints and information for different quests.

**White Sythe: **He's an adventurer, easily suckered in by promises of treasure and traps. Meet me at Gekomon's bar in Root Town and I'll help you find him. (AwsomeTai is that you?)

**Gr8Davis: **censoreding censored j00 squeld to the censoredin Mods censored!

**White Sythe: **And I can do it again. :p

Smiling at the proposal on her screen, Tanya gained an extra jump when she saw that the user was currently online. She set about putting in a response.

**Dainya:** Thank you so much Sythe! When do you want to meet?

**White Sythe: **Now good?

**Dainya: **Sure

Pushing gloom to the side, Tanya fired on the program and slid her visor on, welcoming the rush of lights that indicated her mind's jump to the game's world. The lights quickly began to sort themselves into a kind of pattern that eventually became a street in Root Town, situated right outside of the terminal building where she had first logged in. No sooner had she adjusted to this reality than she once again had to become adjusted to being flat on her metaphysical back.

"DAINYA!" Lupmon had squealed during the mid-air stage of her flying tackle glomp, and now proceeded to continue with her customary greeting, lapping at her partners face, causing the player to giggle. Dainya had become accustomed to her digimon's energetic greetings and almost anticipated them.

"Heya Lupmon!" Dainya smiled, scratching at the wolf's ears. "Miss me much?"

"Lots n' lots!" The Digimon delivered the most cheerful pout in existence, causing Dainya to chuckle at what had become a routine answer. "Are we gonna try and find Aniki again?"

"Yup." Dainya smiled. "And we will this time too, I found someone who can knows where he is."

With a loud cry of 'Yay', Lupmon pulled Dainya to her feet and pulled her into a spinning dance that ad such a rate of speed and rotation that it was not until te bizarre (and stomach churning) affliction of dizziness wore off did they head for Gekomon's bar.

---

Because the game is designed to be rather family friendly, Gekomon's bar isn't really too much of a bar. It is, however, based upon and around a Wild West saloon, complete with rather twangy piano music, saloon doors, wooden tables, and themed outfits for the NPCs. Aside from the players (some of whom were in fitting costumes) the bar was filled with dressed up NPCs from a barber shop quartet made up of a pair of Floramon, a Palmon, and a Tentomon, all sporting the red and white striped vests and full blown handlebar moustaches, to the Gekomon bar owner himself, clad in a mighty fine ten gallon hat. Entering the bar, Tanya was instantly overcome with the sound of banter, music, and singing, a clear sign of the bar's popularity, something Dainya didn't quite appreciate as she scanned the crowd.

"What do they look like Dainya?" Lupmon looked up at her partner. "Or smell like! If I know that I could find them easy!"

"Well he…she…they…umm…" Dainya's face paled. "I don't know."

There are many ways to handle situations like these, as well as a variety of ways many would think and work through the problem. Dainya chose to panic on the spot. The beginning was subtle enough, a dilation of the pupils and a nervous twitch of the eyebrow, just three flickers, before it erupted into hands grabbing at hair and doubling over as hope turned into despair and worry and kicking of herself up the ass for not asking Sythe what he/she/it looked like! Just when Lupmon was giving her odd looks and she was on the verge of hyperventilating, a hand clamped down on her shoulder, making her jump.

"Whassa matter? Forget to do your homework or summin'?"

Whirling with a startled 'Aya!' Dainya came face to face with a woman who seemed to be the opposite of the scruffy Cait. She was clad in an immaculate white uniform of white with a sky blue trim consisting of a long coat with baggy military trousers and black boots. The jacket was held closed over her torso with large gold buckles, with a pair of crossed blue belts at her waist. Her hair was long and black, trailing down in long waves down her back, ending with the tips turned gold, the shorter hair framing her face following the same pattern with amethyst eyes smirking at down at Dainya from a slightly higher vantage point.

"Deep breaths." The woman laughed as Dainya fought with the short breaths her surprise had inflicted upon her.

Once her breathing was obviously back to normal, the woman batted Dainya on the shoulder.

"Jeez you're jumpy kid." The woman laughed. "And you want to go and track down a guy who hangs out in trap infested temples?"

Wobbling a little under each pat, Dainya looked rather confused.

"Whadda-whoare…Are you Sythe?"

The white clad woman stopped her patting, but kept her hand on the shorter girl's shoulder.

"Course I am, why do you think it says…you don't know how to use the player radar do you?" The blank look was more than enough of an answer. "Just fire up your Digivice scanner and select mode 2." She sighed, withdrawing her arm.

Turning on the scanner, normally used to obtain Digimon stats, Dainya decided that the next time she read a user guide, she'd put more effort into reading than ogling the pretty pictures, Dainya tapped on the button marked 'Mode 2'. A projection was then emitted from the screen, displaying a great number of dots, one for each digivice in the room, and when the scan passed over the player their name appeared over their head.

"Ah…nifty." Dainya smiled.

"I wondered why you were standing around looking like a lame duck." Sythe smiled back. "Now, I believe you have a lost little kitty you want to find?"

"Huh…oh, Cait, yeah." Dainya stuttered, taking a few moments to get her brain back onto its original mental tracks. "You know where he is?"

"In theory." Sythe shrugged. "It all depends on where the most interesting treasure is."

"So you don't actually know where he and Aniki are?" Lupmon looked up with puppy-dog eyes on, a natural thing perhaps as she was rather puppy-like.

"Ani…" Sythe shook her head, as if dispelling a rather scary thought. "I don't actually know, but I heard a rumour while I was here of there being a cave in Archive, which _might_ have some rare item in it."

"That doesn't sound like very solid information to me." Dainya stared with a sceptical look.

"Trust me, it's a rumour in an inn. While the odds of the information being good are low, the odds that Cait went chasing after it anyway are pretty good, adventurers are like that."

Dainya was about to question this logic, then remembered she had followed 'hot tips' from an Impmon whose had been at best vague, and at worst, questionable, all for the love of shiny, shiny treasure.

"Right!" She nodded, Lupmon following up a moment after, only much more vigorously and requiring a pat to the head to get her to stop.

"Lets go then!" Sythe pumped a hand in the air. "C'mon Agumon!"

"Right!"

From one of the crowded tables, an Agumon shot up, giving a nod to the others at the table before leaving the card-game and running across to his partner, both woman and giant lizard then began to charge out of the bar.

"Hey wait!" Dainya called, her brain stalling temporarily as she looked down at Lupmon who gave her the same bewildered look in return, before the managed to shake their heads clear and race off in pursuit.

"Where are we going?" She called, glad once more she didn't have to work her puny lungs as she ran.

"The Trailmon station!" Sythe called back.

"What?" Dainya cried out, a little more baffled than she should have been, but nether the less she kept up her pursuit.

She would read that guide book properly one day, honest.

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**Eisen Raven: **Welcome to "Who's Story is it Anyway?" The show where everything's made up and the kudos bars don't matter. That's right, just like the money you get from the Tooth Fairy, the kudos bars are meaningless.

For anyone who'se wondering why I changed my adjective, it's because I actually went and made a account, and Metal Raven was taken. For those of you who care, Eisen is the German word for "Iron". I'm a bit of a German nut, as you may discover in some later Digimon evil grin

A lot of people have been giving this fanfic parallels with Dot.Hack that we the authors didn't even consider. Specifically the cat. As I said back in the last chapter, the idea simply came to my mind. The fact that there is another cat in Dot.Hack that fritzes another player's game is purely coincedental. While I am familier with Dot.Hack, I've only read the Legend of Twlight three-book manga, saw one episode of Roots (I think it was Roots anyway, the show where the main character is a Wavemaster, I believe), and played a little of Infection (I'm trying to beat it, but we'll likely be done with this story before I finish all four, let alone reach the G.U. games, which look even cooler.

And now I actually talk about the chapter. A thousand kudos bars and a root beer float to whoever can find White Sythe's first appearance in the story. Originally, Sythe was going to be the moderator with Omnimon and was to be a recurring antagonist throughout the story, but as we got new ideas, Sythe turned into yet another regular player with her own partner and evo line. I really enjoy her myself, though I can't say she's my favorite girl of the story, as all of our ladies are awesome one way or another. But she holds a place in my heart, and I hope you enjoy her just as much as I do.

For anyone else who cares, I personally find this story to share more similarities with Dragon Drive, another anime/manga about a videogame everyone plays, only in this one, with Dragon partners (I'm looking at you, Chad. wink ) instead of yourself.

**Keyo:** As Raven has covered Sythe and dot.Hack, I think I shall ramble about minor characters for awhile.

As mentioned before, Charley is a last minute addition to the cast when I realised we hadn't thought of anyone for Tanya to talk to. It was when writing this chapter that I realised she didn't have any character. And so she became a 'not-so-peppy' cheerleader. I think I'm going to enjoy developing her a bit.

We meet yet another mod in this chapter, Elaine! She's a serious woman when it comes to work, so much so that she doesn't even have a user name! And Gallantmon's partner is at last named as Miguel, or Duke as he prefers to be known in game.

It was a rather amusing to do another forum scene, I fear AwsomTai, or Gr8Davis as he is now is going to be a bit of a running gag, at least I get to enjoy making up his names each time he gets banned. I think the forums are going to be a great plot device.

My buffer is sort of rebuilding itself as the next chapter has been written already, the only hindrance is the mess my room is in due to my return from University and my procrastination when it comes to cleaning it.

See you next update!

Keyo & Raven 


	10. Chapter 10

**Keyo Red Angel of Hope: **Normal rules apply. Digimon belongs to Bandai, the fan characters belong to us, and notes are at the end. As always, thank you for proof reading CrazyEight.

---

Chapter 10

---

The station was a busy place, with players and their partners shuttling around File Island upon the monsters train known as Trailmon. The Digimon itself came in a wide variety of types, from the 'worm' style resembling an a cross between a freight train and a caterpillar, looking to be made of wrought iron with a set of four head lights that resembled eyes and oversized pointed teeth emerging at the front of the boiler section to ones that resembled large pink moles.

Yeah…they were weird.

Wandering through the station, taking in the variety of maps and deals and help points as well as the general atmosphere of the station, Dainya whittled away time while Sythe rather zealously fought for tickets back at the queue. Lupmon padded along side her, eyes as wide as her partners as she swung her head around and walked sideways and backwards in an effort to see all that was around her. One ear then flapped up as she paused, catching an odd new sound in the air, Dainya doing the same as she joined her partner in turning her head as their eyes sought what their ears had already found. There, clad in loose black hakama and haori and sporting an oversized conical hat was a man, sitting cross legged against the station wall, plucking away at a banjo, filling the air with the a rendition of 'Yankee Doodle Dandy.' When the song ended, he held out his hand.

"That'll be 500 bits." He spoke in a smooth tone, causing Dainya to blanch.

"Wh…whaddya mean 500 bits!?" She cried out.

"You got to enjoy the song, so now you got to pay the piper…banjoist."

"But I never…I mean…"

"You alright here Dainya?" Sythe suddenly stepped in, clapping a hand down on her companions shoulder and directing the cold tone and stare at the banjoist.

"The plinky man wants out money." Lupmon piped up, pointing with a claw at the music man.

"A pushy busker eh?" She narrowed her eyes further.

"What's a busker?" The Digimon cocked her head.

"A beggar with an ounce of talent." The white clad player smirked in a predatory fashion.

"Now, now." The banjo player protested. "Isn't beggar a little…"

"You have three seconds then I call the mods and tell them you were trying to extort a helpless n00b."

With a 'meep', the banjo playing busker was up and darting out of the station,

With a sigh, Sythe returned her hands to her own sides and glared after the retreating figure.

"You gotta watch out for players like that Dainya. Not everyone here is benevolent and there are a whole bunch who like to chew on n00bs for their own profit."

Dainya took a worrying glance in the same direction, thoughts of Eight Ball and particularly Min flashed through her mind causing her to frown. Lupmon looked up at her with concern at her partner, and it did not take long for Sythe to also notice the distress etched on the girl's face.

"Hey! Don't worry!" She slapped her back in a hardy fashion. "Most of us are an alright sort, a bit mad but we're alright! Now c'mon, I got us some tickets and our train is about to depart!" Sidestepping behind the girl, she began to push her in the direction of their platform, her Agumon doing the same to Lupmon. "C'mon girl! Move, move, move!"

---

In most games long distance transport is but a cut-scene, giving the start of the journey, and the end with the actually time of the journey filled in with the time it takes to load up the next area. This is infinitely shorter and far less scenic than a true train ride or boat trip, or a virtual one for that matter. While this method is used in Digimon Online for long trips between the continents and islands, internal journeys do take time. One of the officially given reasons is that players walking would appreciate actually comparative travel times; it is also unofficially believed to be because the programmer Yukio Kaizawa had a thing about trains and was adamant about actually having them with an accurate simulation of motion, rapidly blurring window images and interior cabin design.

Dainya just wished they hadn't simulated the fight for seats so well.

Cramped in amongst many other passengers aboard one of the caterpillar like Trailmon Dainya clung onto one of the standing loops, passively looking out of the windows at the flashing scenery of File Island, shifting from lush green to dusty red as they began to enter the Achieve Valley. She didn't really know if Cait could give any answers, but he was the only actual person she could talk to about what had happened who hadn't made maturity their dump stat.

"They're sure are a lot of people on the train." Lupmon pined from her location around about waist height, before standing fully upright to try and get a better view, sinking back to her haunches when it failed.

"Vague tips spread fast in the tavern world." Sythe explained with a shrug. "Adventurers don't need much more than the word 'treasure' to go running off."

"_Especially_ if it comes from a tavern." Agumon commented, breaking his so far stoic presentation, arms folded across his chest, bright red training bracers standing out against the pale orange of his scales, eyes closed for a look of clam superiority, one of his eyes creaking open as Lupmon poked at his claws.

"What are these anyway?" She asked. "Aniki wears them too, but I don't know what they are."

"They're training bracers." Agumon answered simply, closing his eyes and raising his snout again to present himself in a dignified fashion to defy low stature.

"But what do they train?" Lupmon asked, her tail coiling about in a manner that could be described as fidgeting while she ran her question through her head.

"Well they…that is to say…" Agumon's eyes drew open slowly as he proceeded to scratch at his head in an effort to recall their actual purpose.

Chuckling at the discomfort of her normally ruffle proof partner under Lupmon's rather curious child like gaze Sythe turned to look at Dainya and her far away eyes, a small, sneaky smirk spreading on her face as she once more clapped the girl on the back.

"Don't worry D!" She beamed. "We'll find your lost little lover boy."

Burning up immediately into red, Dainya whirled to face her companion, hands waving in defence of the verbal assault.

"He's not…I mean, how can you think I…that's not what I…I mean…it's…"

Whooping with laughter, Sythe slapped Dainya on the back.

"That got you out of your funk fast enough." Sythe grinned. "Now, stop looking so glum or I'll make even wilder accusations. Involving Numemon, a London bus and Ronnie Corbett."

Cooling down from the shock of the teasing, Dainya quirked an eyebrow.

"Who's Ronnie Corbett?"

Sythe simply sighed with a shake of the head and a comment of 'philistine', proceeding to amuse herself by ignoring Dainya's continued questioning regarding the diminutive comedian.

---

Stepping down from the Trailmon, Dainya and Lupmon both let off a low 'woah' as they took in the bizarre shantytown that surrounded the small station. The station itself was wooden with a pair of sheds on either side of the double tracks to act as ticket offices, while the town was made up of tents and shacks and huts, the most complex being cobbled together sheds and the most basic being a tarp held up with a quartet of sticks. What made the town impressive though were the bones decorating the buildings. They all resembled dinosaur bones and many of the huts and skulls as door knockers or wind chimes made from smaller bones, there was even a large tarp supported by a rib cage.

"Cool huh?" Sythe grinned, startling Dainya back into focus with her usual clap on the shoulder. "Look up."

Following Sythe's outstretched arm and finger, Dainya almost did a double take when she saw the entrance way for the station was a massive, pointed teeth bearing skull, shafts of light shining down through the empty eye sockets and nose slits.

"Those are big teeth." Lupmon gulped.

"This is Fossil Town." Agumon nodded. "It acts like a home base for adventurers looking for treasure in the valley."

"And it's unique among all the towns in the game!" Sythe beamed, looping an arm around the shorter Dainya, steering her into the town, Agumon following at an even pace behind them while Lupmon scurried around them all, keeping her eyes on the town and everyone moving within it. "See, this place wasn't made by Pandai, it was originally just a blank and dusty spot and to get here you had to trek through the Fragment Desert. It was helluva dangerous, and some smart players figured they could make money by setting up tents at the mid-way point between the territories, so that once a player had trailed through the desert they could sap their bit bags dry by acting as merchants. They'd by a surplus of items and travel in a caravan, taking turns to sit and wait and sell stat discs on to tired travellers. When the Trailmon Network was installed, they decided this should be where the canyon's station should be. It did damage sales for awhile, but seeing as they got to become an actual town, people were forced to come through here if they wanted to use the train, _and_ they didn't install any NPCs. Every merchant in here is an actual player."

"FS SD 500BTs Each!" A sign they past read, while voices that were similarly inarticulate cried out.

"It's a mixed blessing…" Agumon sighed at the persistence of n00b merchants.

"So do we go around and try and find the hottest tip?" Dainya asked.

"Whenever I've gone and run into Cait he's been pursuing some vague, shady tip from a questionable source." She snorted out a laugh. "Said it's the best way for a 'true adventurer' to work. So what we're after is the foggiest tip!"

'I know a certain little imp who's good at providing those." Dainya chuckled internally, a smile tweaking onto her face. "So what are we going to do then?"

Pausing, Sythe looked around for the nearest bar before nodding her head across to the building and pulling her in its direction.

"We go to where all tips hot and smoky hang out."

---

Bathed in the musky scent of their smoky tip Sythe and Dainya trudged along a narrow rocky pathway leading up and along a high canyon wall. Ahead of them Lupmon scurried on all fours, nose to the ground as she tried to pick up Cait's scent while Agumon padded along at the back, arms folded and eyes half lidded in a nonchalant manner, looking a little bored but glad to be free of Lupmon's pestering.

"So somewhere this way? We couldn't get more exact than that?"

"The guy also said it should be under a great big rock shaped like a nose." Sythe waved her arms to emphasise the implied size.

"You want me to use my nose to find that nose?" Lupmon sniggered.

"That won't be necessary." Agumon cut in, causing the group to pause. "Look over there."

Following the nod the small lizard gave with his over sized head the travelling party looked over the ravine to the opposite side, spying the large, bulbous, rocky outcrop that stood over the ridge, shaped very distinctly like a nose.

"Ahhhhhhhhh, just typical!" Sythe threw her arms up in exasperation. "We're on the wrong side of the canyon!"

Fuming in a very vocal fashion, Sythe ran through all of the curse words she knew that wouldn't be censored, which was a surprisingly high number, while Dainya focused on a strange series of flashes that were springing up near the nose rock. Suddenly there was a great noise, 'crack-a-boom', that was accompanied by a large plume of dust and the sight of a large scar emerging along the nose.

"What the bloop was that?" Sythe cried.

"Whatever it was is going to take at least an hour to regenerate terrain." Agumon sighed, leaning back against the canyon wall, idly watching the repeat series of explosions appear and move closer to them.

It was then there came something that made their eyes shoot wide open as two figures launched themselves from the opposite ridge, fire and dust blasting out behind them, as they hurtled down, they turned breaking into a smile as they spotted the figures on the rocky causeway. Pointing at the Digimon of the pair, Lupmon cried out.

"Hey! There's Aniki!"

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**Raven: **Sorry for the long notes today. And there's not much here except set-up sadly, but it should get us prepped for a semi-awesome chapter next week (We're almost like volleybal players, setting up a shot before spiking it in).

Now, Keyo usually answers each reviewer's questions privately, but I feel that a few of these need to be told to everyone, so I'm gonna talk about a few reviews we've gotten lately. (by the way, we love you all. Without you, we prolly wouldn't be keeping on, and we hope our ideas continue to bring you happines)

Kaen: You're my new favorite reviewer. Don't feel so bad about your review, I loved it. And yeah, I made Sephy's full name after remembering the dozens of "Super Saiyan 4 Sephiroth"s that plagued the first PSOs on the Dreamcast. And to answer Flaming Guitar, Digital Kaiser Sephiroth is a cross beween the previously mentioned name, the Digimon Emporer's name, and the word Kaiser, German for King (not connected to Fubuki at all, though Bobby may have been thinking of him when he made the name).

Dragonchad: Seeing as Dragon Drive is not an MMO like The World in dot.hack, yes there are more similarities. However, in Dragon Drive, it is Player vs. Player, something that we are focusing on in this story for time's sake (We only referenced some destruction of Betamon to show that this is indeed also a Player vs. Enviroment game). Also, as stated before, The World has you with a weapon, Dragon Drive has you with a partner dragon, something Digimon is much more similar to (though some Digimon have weapons of their own).

Alphamech: You get the kudos bar. Cait is indeed named after Cait Sith (though White Sythe is not part of the trick and is a different name we made more for her personality).

Shaveza: I hope it doesn't become as confusing (or depressing, for that matter) as dot.hack. We have a pretty decent idea that makes sense, and while we are planning plot twists and a red herring or two, I don't want anything as crazy as Tsukasa's little exteded stay in The World.

Opusj (and anyone else with characters): We are welcome to hearing any ideas anyone has involving their own characters. We can't guarentee that they'll make it in, but we can always hope you don't notice when we throw them in another story (nothing's planned, in case you're wondering. I would need to spur Keyo into action, and even then, I'd hafta wait until we're done with this behemoth of a story). Email me at or and give me something to tinker with. Let's just hope you don't throw an OC we're already planning.

For those non-apathetic sorts, I have finished Infection, working on Mutation (dad gum Moonstone, so effin' weak), and halfway through //Sign with a few episodes of //Roots watched as well. (I now know which is which). Yep, it's amazing how many coincidental parallels we got with dot.hack. But we've had some of these ideas months before touching dot.hack, so please don't hit us for copywrite infringement.

**Keyo**: I like trains.

Okay, I'll take up more space.

My liking of trains is part of why there are Trailmon here, but it's also because many MMO's have a system for getting players across great distances. This is ours.

Fossil Town was fun to design, inspiration kind of came from the archaeological site in FFVII (damn, a lot of links there) as well as my love of the western frontier style, the expansion of players into the wild without the discipline and control of the moderators.

Cait and Komodomon return! And amazingly a Wile E. Coytoe cartoon didn't inspire their entrance.

My buffer has once more disintegrated as I ran into a bit of mental block on Chapter 11, but I'll get it back…hopefully.

God I miss my 'h' key.

Keyo & Raven 


	11. Chapter 11

**Keyo-Red Angel of Hope: **Usual rigmarol of me telling you what I own and don't own, telling you the notes are at the end, the story, and then the notes at the end.

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Chapter 11: Side-Quest! (Part 3)

Tales from the flashback!

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"I think that guy was drunk."

"How could he be drunk? It's not a real bar."

At roughly an hour before the fall that brought them back to Dainya and Lupmon, Cait and Komodomon had themselves been venturing through the canyon landscape of Archive Valley, Komodomon with his arms crossed, the image of a mon who could multitask, walking and thinking of a response at the same time.

"So, he could have been drink typing?"

"Then his actual text would have been senseless, rather than his directions being nonsensical." Cait sighed, before pausing, his partner coming to a stop beside him. Tilting his head a little, the adventurer smirked and pulled his arm out from under his cloak to point a certain rock formation. Following the outstretched limb, and subsequently the raised finger, Komodomon snorted.

"Okay, so it's actually here, doesn't mean anything."

"The nose knows." Cait smirked, walking in the direction of the nasal formation. "The nose knows."

"Oh ha, ha," The crimson Digimon grumbled. "Very original."

Striding into the shade of the colossal nose shaped rock, which rose out of the canyon top much like…well, a nose on a face, the pair had, as Sythe had guessed, been pursuing a vaguely described rare treasure based upon vague rumors while following vague directions.

True adventurers indeed.

Hunting around the odd shaped rock, the pair deployed with a familiarity that allowed them to continue their banter as they looked for all of the familiar signs of hidden passageways and doors and even trigger switches for a leisurely plummet down a trapdoor. Once they had managed to pry open a dusty stone door they had entered into the catacombs that lay within the canyon walls, game faces completely discarded as sniggered at the joke of 'Nasal Passages' and the fear of encountering a 'Snot-Numemon.'

What followed was for them was routine, dodging booby traps and dealing with antagonistic Digimon and navigating confusing mazes. The motif of the catacombs was, a little disappointingly, lacking in a nose motif, with no stone nose candleholders with dripping wax to resemble snot, or nose hair bristle lining the walls to bock their way.

"Maybe we should write a suggestion in?" Komodomon had sniggered as they bounced the ideas around.

"Maybe we shouldn't, they might actually do it!"

The pair laughed, rather more than necessary as they continued through, dispatching the assortment of Chuumon and Numemon they encountered without even the need to digivolve.

"Guess this dungeon is a lower level than we hoped." Komodomon sighed as they reached the large cavernous hollow that sat in the deepest depths. "For champions those Numemon are pretty sucky."

"Well, we still get the treasure." Cait replied, scanning for traps as they approached the altar in the center, adorned with a very large stone treasure chest and several smaller ones. "That's got to count for something."

Checking the chests over, the pair set about opening the smaller chests, revealing Bits, and small jewels and even stat modifier discs, the typical small treasure stuff, before making a second trap check on the large chest and applying themselves to heaving the large, heavy lid from the casket, grunting as they strained (though in Cait's case it was rather unnecessary) the cavern filling with a crashing noise as the lid dropped to the ground, revealing the treasure within.

"It's ugly." Komodomon deadpanned at the sight, as Cait leaned in and pulled the contents out.

"And gaudy." Cait sighed, turning the jewel encrusted, made of real platinum, PlatinumNumemon statue around in his hands before looking his partner in the eyes, broad smiles spreading across their faces.

"And it's gonna help make us stinking rich!" They cried in unison, the more avaricious aspects of their nature shining through.

"My thoughts exactly."

Spinning, and crouching into ready positions, the treasure-seeking duo found their exit now blocked by three players. The one who had spoken stepped forward, clad in a smart suit, minus the jacket, of white shirt, black tie and a chain looping out from the chest pocket, leading in to what was presumably a pocket watch, and trousers with smart black leather shoes. His hair was also black and slicked back in a business like fashion, with a pair of rimless glasses situated on his face, his skin pale and his body tall and lanky, he pushed the glasses up on his nose with one hand, while reaching out towards the pair with the other.

"It was most kind of you to dismantle the traps and enemies in our path, and now if you would complete your generosity and hand over the treasure?"

Stretching out, Komodomon whispered to his partner.

"How the hell did they follow us?"

"Not a clue." Cait replied, before straightening himself out and tucking the PlatinumNumemon statue into the folds of his cloak where it vanished into the invisible storage space of his item list. "I suppose my refusal will be met with rather sudden and aggressive violence?"

The second player stepped out from the darkness, clad in a fishnet top covering the well sculpted muscles of the avatar, one hand hidden under a clawed metallic glove, frayed and tattered grey slacks adorned his legs covering the start of large black boots with spiked metal caps. The voice was likely edited, for Cait was sure no-one could speak like he did, speaking from behind a white face mask, the Digital Hazard embossed over the right eye in what looked like blood, a rare customization, long red hair trailed to his ankles held in a neck aligned ponytail.

"Keehehehehehehe!" He cackled, scanning Cait up and down with mismatched eyes, one yellow, and one green. "Or we can tear at you slowly and painfully, picking at you piece by piece. Keeheeheeheeheehee!"

"Now," The final one marched forward, heavy boots and tight leather trousers in pure black with a studded leather jacket to match, chains dripping from the right shoulder. The bare chest was partially obscured by a thick leather belt, embossed with a white skull holding a spider bodied guitar to the avatar's back, another chain sat around his neck, his black and grey digivice hanging from it. Despite the darkness rather expensive looking sunglasses sat on his face, hair bleached white and spiked back in long points. "Y'all gonna do this the easy way, or the fun way?"

Cait chuckled while Komodomon grinned from ear hole to ear hole.

"Oh, the fun way." He slid a hand into his cloak as Komodomon moved around to stand before his partner. "Every time."

What happened next happened fast, dark shapes pushed out from behind the intruding players, their Digimon partners, just as Cait pulled a green disc from his item list.

"Game Modifier!" The opposing Digimon leapt at them. "Dungeon Oscillation Disc!"

A pair of rings made up of a combination of 0s and 1s appeared around the feet and heads of the adventuring pair before sweeping towards each other erasing the smiling images of Cait and Komodomon, the red Digimon waving his clawed hand cheerily at their aggressors, enjoying the sound of their cussing. Oscillation discs were expensive, but Cait had considered it an investment for a time like this. Up upon the surface by the entrance to the catacombs a new set of rings appeared, first a single one, then spreading out to materialize the bodies of Cait and Komdomon in the reverse sequence from their disappearance.

And they set into running as fast as their statistics would let them.

"Y'know, we better escape this one Cait, we're going to need that statue to help pay for a new oscillation disc!" Komodomon called to his partner, the grin still on his face, flashing his shining teeth.

"Hell, the look on their faces was worth it!" Cait barked into laughter. "They had no idea we would have one of those babies!"

"They are expensive aren't they?"

Twisting their heads, Cait and Komodomon found themselves being pursued once more by the same triad of players from the catacombs treasure bay.

"Keeheeheheheh! You're right!" The masked player cackled. "That expression _is_ worth the use of an oscillation disc!"

The shirt clad player proceeded to smirk.

"We've done enough research, that PlatinumNumemon statue will more than cover a new oscillation disc." Reaching up, he pushed his glasses further up his face. "Not to mention the profit we'll make from the rest of your items. Now, for the fun."

Before either Cait or Komodomon could exclaim a 'huh' the ground before them erupted and a furred Digimon a rough inch or two shorter than Komodomon catapulted at player and partner who threw themselves sideways to avoid the attack. Their assailant twisted in the air before diving back down at them.

"Dimension Hole!" It cried in a cutesy, squeaky voice, before vanishing through a Loony Toons style hole that appeared in the air, only to erupt from the great nose shape, splitting the stone as it launched down at them, its long red claws grazing Komodomon as it passed.

"Komodomon!" Cait called as his partner grunted in pain, stumbling and falling, as his balance was lost.

"Spiral Edge!" A pair of yellow and orange blurs emerged from behind the players, the attack name being cried in stereo as they weaved around one another before splitting up and attacking Komodomon and Cait respectively, forcing them apart.

"Dimension Hole!"

Crying out, Komodomon, who had dodged the initial attack, was struck in the back by the appearing Digimon, who seemed to be laughing right up until Komodomon seized it by the leg and with a little centrifuge, hurled the spinning Digimon, disrupting their attack pattern and left them in a crumpled heap allowing them to be seen clearly.

Two were yellow frog like creatures with gaping jaws and claws over their webbed feet, thick patch of orange fur upon their backs, long black, bladed spines emerging from beneath.

The other, the teleporting menace, looked like a cross between a dog and a rabbit and a knife drawer. It had a long, sleek brown body with dog-like back feet, while it's fore legs were covered with what looked like a revolver barrel with three long red blades emerged from each to act as claws, its long slicked back ears were also blades, the brown fur melting into silver steel.

Gizamon 

**Leve: Rookie**

**Type: Virus**

**Attacks: Spiral Edge, Frog Kick**

**Prairiemon**

**Level: Rookie**

**Type: Vaccine**

**Attacks: Hare's Ear, Dimension Hole**

Swinging the digivice back under his cloak Cait gave a satisfied nod before pulling another disc from his cloak.

"Game Modifier! Instant Mist!" Cait cried, a thick mist appearing within the area, obscuring the pair from their pursuers view, the partners grinning madly to one another as they burst out from one side.

"Run, run, as fast as you can! You can catch us because we rule man!" They chanted, even if Prairiemon could warp, it still had to have a target area to warp to.

"Y'know, those aren't too cheap either?" Komodomon scolded.

"The beggar on the street is richer than the king in a tomb!" Cait beamed before his eyes widened as a cry erupted from the mist.

"Gizamon digivolve to…Cyclonemon!"

While the first voice, that of Gizamon, had been high and possessed a froggy croak but Cyclonemon's had been a roar, warbling as if the digimon's jaw didn't fit right.

From the mist, Prairiemon suddenly flew up towards the sky, looking out over the valley. Spinning in the air, it was able to find the pray it sought.

"There." It spoke in that cutesy voice, one clawed hand rising to point out the direction they were fleeing in. "West-North-West."

"When did running away become so hard to do?" Cait lamented as their pursuers emerged from the mist, one of the Gizamon replaced by a colossal monster of a digimon. Its yellow body and brown armoured helm along with its reptilian shape left it reminiscent of Greymon, but the similarities ended there. The yellow was sickly pale and its muscles were stretched to a point where they almost broke the skin, the one on the right enlarged so much that it was almost as large as the Digimon's main body, two great red claws emerging from its base while the other limbs bore four black ones, the tail wrapped in iron armour with a spiked shoulder guard sat on the right shoulder. The massive arm was raised back and with a swing, it hurled Gizamon towards the players.

"Spiral Edge!" It cried, the momentum it gained allowing it to tear up the ground as it travelled, Cait and Komodmon changing direction to avoid collision, throwing themselves flat.

"Dimension Hole!" With another burst, Prairiemon appeared further up from the ground, swinging its metal ears around in an arc and allow Gizamon to ride along them, changing direction and hurtling back towards the treasure hunters. Pushing himself up, Komodomon placed himself before Cait, his arms up in a guard as the reptilian Digimon slammed into him the blades grating against his claws as he was forced back due to Gizamon's momentum, slaming into his partner and causing him to fall back as he repelled the assailant.

Before he could even hit the ground though, Cait had gotten back to his feet and had snagged his partner by the arm, breaking once more into a mad run.

"I think we need a new plan!" Komodomon yelled as he stabilized himself and began to run along side his partner, rather than be dragged.

"I have one!" Cait called back. "It's just not a good one."

Before Komodomon could even ask, complain, or even speculate as to what the plan was, it became abundantly clear as they ran out of ground and hurled into open space with a yell that wouldn't have been out of place in an action movie, they only lacked the fiery explosion licking their heals.

"Hey! There's Aniki!"

Twisting in their fall, as the developers had yet to properly factor in wind rush as a sound effect, Cait and Komodomon were given enough time to spy the girls and their partners before rushing past them in a distinctly lateral fashion.

"Cait!"

"Aniki!"

Throwing themselves to the edge of the ledge Dainya and Lupmon watched the players grow smaller on their fall before a flash of red covered them and they began to rise back up, Drakemon hurtling up past them, arms tucked in as he was finished his upward arc, settling down next to Dainya and allowing Cait to drop down from his back.

"Aniki!" Lupmon cried, pushing around Dainy and Cait to tackle the much larger dragon being, latching onto his torso.

"Hey there kiddo!" Drakemon grinned, patting the wolf on the head, his palm covering the wolf's head.

"Long time no see Cait. Managed to find more trouble?" Sythe stepped around Dainya, hands upon hips with an unreadable smile on her face.

"Always a pleasure Miss Sythe." Cait bowed, sweeping his cloak out with one arm. "Still haven't found a 'c' I see?"

Grumbling, Sythe turned and stoppedby Dainya, slapping her on the shoulder as she passed.

"C'mon, we found your boyfriend. Now lets go before whatever mess he found catches up to us."

A loud scraping suddenly caught their attention and as they turned the group could see the misshapen form of Cyclonemon trailing down the cliff, his oversized arm digging it's two massive claws into the rock face, tearing up the rocks with the pursuing group situated atop his back. Once they had fallen to a spot a few feet above their opposition, Cyclonemon dug the rest of his claws in to the rocks, holding in place.

"A little late, I'm afraid." The well-dressed member stepped up to Cyclonemon's neck placing a hand onto the massive horn for balance, the remaining Gizamon at his feet. "Now will you give up this ridiculous cat and mouse game?"

"Oh ho." Sythe laughed, her mood suddenly improving at the presence of the threats. "So this is your little trouble. A rabble of reputation less PKs."

"PKs?" Dainya tilted her head at the white clad avatar.

"Like I told you, there are a lot of different types of players. Merchants like in Fossil Town, Treasure Hunting Adventurers like Cait and Komodomon, and then PKs, Player Killers like these mooks. They go around killing other players and looting their items."

"Why thank you for that little exposition, and you're right, we don't have much of a reputation…yet." The smartly dressed player once more pushed his glasses up. "So, allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Skull Abacus."

"Red Rum." The masked player chipped in from his perch on Cyclonemon's shoulder pad, Prairiemon clinging to his back, smiling a sickeningly sweet smile.

" Last and far from least," The leather clad rocker waved from Cyclonemon's back. "heavy singin', guitar swingin', Guitar Villain."

"That's not very RP-y." Dainya retorted, breaking the mood.

"Well excuse me Miss Mary-Sue, not all of us are here to play house." Guitar scolded.

"Well, at least this trip hasn't been a total waste." Sythe beamed, stretching her limbs as if limbering up. "Getting to play with around with these mooks is going to make up for chasing a little lost kitten all night."

"Can we please stop with cat jokes?" Cait complained.

"Quiet kitty or I'll make a Manx out of you!" Styhe growled, glaring at him from the corner of her eye, immediately shutting him up.

"I want to play with the little girl." Rum suddenly cut in. "Little girls are so sweet and scream so well when torn into little itty bits." A slurping noise came from behind the mask as the psycho licked his lips, Dainya taking an involuntary step back, her head snapping around as Sythe stomped forward.

"If we're picking partners I'll take four eyes there!" Sythe threw out her arm and fingered Abacus. "He talks enough to be the boss!"

"So I'm stuck with the freak?" Cait moaned.

"Who're you calling a freak!?" Guitar cried out, waving a fist in Cait's direction.

"Two words." Cait raised the equivalent fingers, counting them off. "Leather. Trousers."

"What?" Dainya, Guitar, Abacus, and Rum all looked on with bemusement.

"Pants…" Cait sighed, before grumbling out something like 'American savages."

Clutching the chain, Abacus proceeded to pull it free of his pocket, the silver and white digivice at the end dangled before him.

"Enough talking and enough running!" He announced. "Gizamon!"

Lifting up his glove free hand, Rum revealed the blood red and maroon Digivice buried in his palm.

"Prairiemon! It's time to play!" He cried, before launching into another manic bout of 'Keeheehees' as the dog and frog like Digimon leapt from Cyclonemon, light suddenly covering them as they cried out.

"Pairemon Digivolve to…"

"Gizamon Digivolve to…"

"Fangmon!"

"Deltamon!"

'They didn't glow.' Dainya's eyebrows rose up. 'Why didn't their hands glow?'

"Dainya!" Sythe suddenly barked, pulling her white and gold digivice from its place on her belt. "Watch closely. There's another type of player I didn't tell you about." A bright orange glow suddenly surrounded her free hand, flickering like a flame. "PvP fans. People like me who thrive on battle and testing their strength against other players. And for many of us, eliminating PKs is just a fun form of training! Agumon!"

"Right!"

Running forward, the orange Digimon threw himself into the air as Sythe swung both her arms up, slamming the glowing one into the side of her digivice, light exploding out around it as it absorbed the orange glow, causing Agumon to be engulfed in an orange glow.

"Agumon Digivolve to…GEOGREYMON!"

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Raven: **C'mon people, as if the red training bracers didn't give it away.

And now we finally bring in the PKers that we had been planning practically before we even planned most of the stuff in our latest incarnation of this story. If/when this story ends, perhaps I'll take some time to inform you of our original ideas. But for now, be content to know that Min was originally intended to be one of these three, and as we fell more in love with her, she became more important, to the point now that she can freely slap Eight Ball without much retaliation.

And now to talk about Red Rum, my favorite "stock character". Skull Abacus was entirely Keyo, and while I worked out the motif for Guitar Villain, he was the one who provided the parody name. But Red Rum has been here a while. He started as a major character in a fanfic I plan on submitting to this website SOMEDAY, and his design has not changed much. He is always a sadomasochist, and has a blood fetish (in one original story idea Keyo and I have been working on, he is also able to manipulate blood similar to Charden from Black Cat). His name refers to death and alludes to blood, and I felt really good when I came up with that. I'm so witty.

For anyone who thinks they can get rich off of suing me, look up Prairiemon. He is technically an Armor level, which ranges anywhere from Champion to Mega, depending on the Digi-mental (the Japanese name sounds so much better than Digi-egg) used. And I don't give a bloop. Prairiemon is cute, and has huge red nails, perfect matches for Red's Rookie partner. So I took him, made him Rookie size, and gave it to Keyo, saying "Make it work, or _else._"

For anyone who spayed or neutered their pets, I salute Bob Barker, and intend to bomb the Price Is Right set if they try and bring in another host. And to quote number 5 on Letterman's Top 10 List of things Bob Barker can say now that he's quitting, "Howie Mandel may be a younger game show host, but at least I still have hair."

**Keyo: **This chapter was pretty tough to write, but it's done and it's up. Once again thanks to CrazyEight for beta reading and keeping us right. And yes, Raven's notes _are_ getting longer.

Today a little discussion on names. As Raven said, Red Rum is something of a staple template we possess, created by Raven long ago. Tanya is another name we attribute to a familiar character outline we have, which makes the Tanya in this story a little amusing for us because she is nothing like the character outline, which is typically a masochistic, sadistic, borderline psychotic necromancer of some description with a bold and sexy gothic fashion sense.

Skull Abacus was simply put together from a symbol of death and a symbol of intelligence, as Abacus is the great thinker of the PK trio. Guitar Villain has fairly obvious roots, and was just too good an idea to not use.

As some of you might of noticed, Sythe's name is miss-pelt, hence why Cait asks if se has found a 'c' yet. This started as a typo on my part, but we decided to keep it in.

See you all next update!

**Keyo & Raven**


	12. Chapter 12

**Keyo-Red Angel of Hope: **Digimon is property of Bandai, the fan characters ours, and this chapter is over 5000!!! (one day I'll do that with 9000, but this is our biggest yet.)

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Chapter 12 – Sidequest! Part 4

PvPK BBQ Brawl!

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**Cyclonemon Level: **

**Champion**

**Type: Virus**

**Attacks: **Hyper Heat, Arm Bomber.

**Fangmon**

**Level: Champion**

**Type: Virus**

**Attacks: **Blast Coffin, Swipe Steal.

**Deltamon**

**Level: Champion**

**Type: Virus**

**Attacks: **Triplex Force, Skull Fang.

Looking up from her scan with the Digivice, Dainya watched as the now evolved Digimon clashed with Sythe's evolved GeoGreymon, tumbling down into the canyon as Drakemon took flight and dived down at the tumbling group pulling the large dinosaur free and straining to slow their decent until his comrade could pull himself against the rock wall and support himself, allowing Dainya to sweep the Digivice over him.

**GeoGreymon**

**Level: Champion**

**Type: Vaccine**

**Attacks: **Mega Shot, Mega Roar, Mega Volcano.

"Nice save Drakemon!" Cait gave a thumbs up to his partner.

"Someone needs to go on a diet." Drakemon scolded the colossal dinosaur.

"And I thought you hated cliché jokes." GeoGreymon rolled his eyes.

The giant horned Digimon was incredibly similar to the well known Greymon, but his body was leaner and had better muscle definition, great spikes growing out from his shoulders with an extra row of spikes sitting on along the bottom of his brown helmet. The blue streaks on his otherwise orange body pointed towards his torso, with pairs crossing his legs and upper arms, the training bands still wrapped around his claws.

"Armed Bomber!"

Looking up, Drakemon and GeoGreymon were confronted with the sight of Cyclonemon bearing down on them, his distorted arm raised and he prepared to rip GeoGreymon from the wall and drag him into the ground.

"Spiral Fang!" In a flash of blue Lykiomon launched from the ledge and slammed into Cyclonemon's unguarded chest, the force of the impact driving the grotesque champion back towards his point of origin as the two also began to take the fast track to the bottom.

"I didn't think she'd jump like that." Dainy clutched her digivice to her chest as she peered down to the base, jumping a little as Cait's hand laid down on her back, giving her a what could be taken as a mix of a congratulatory and sympathetic pat.

"I wondered what her champion form would look like." He smiled as Dainya stood up. "I'm guessing this isn't the first time you got her to digivolve though. You'll have to tell me about it sometime."

"Can we reminisce after we stomp on the bad guys?" Sythe whined, climbing down onto her partners back.

"Business before leisure eh?" Cait sighed, drawing back his hand and slipping down the ledge and resting a foot on GeoGreymon's shoulder, offering his hand up to Dainya to help her down. Seizing up for a moment, Dainya proceeded to snatch at the offered hand and stumble down onto the large dinosaur, saved from falling off as Sythe and Cait grabbed at her shoulders to stabilise her. "Careful, it's a long way down." The adventurer grinned before releasing her. "And the ride's wild enough." Turning, he took a short skip before leaping from GeoGreymon's back, startling Dainya while Sythe looked on with an irritated expression as Drakemon swept up, catching him upon his back and diving down into the valley.

"Show off." Sythe muttered, looking over to Dainya. "You might want to hold on."

Watching as a manic grin spread on the face of the raven haired avatar, Dainya scurried and wrapped her arms around one of GeoGreymon's horns as Sythe looped an arm around another.

"Let's go GeoGreymon!" Sythe cried, as her partner let out a roar and loosened his grip on the cliff wall and began to slide down into the valley, his claws ripping up stone and scattering dust and debris as Dainya screamed, hair blasting up in a bride of Frankenstein fashion as Sythe laughed.

"Tanya, are you okay?"

Turning and twisting up her visor, Tanya saw her mum's pressed part way through her bedroom door, a worried look on her face as she scanned the room, her eyes settling on the figure of her daughter every few flicks.

"Yeah mum." Tanya apologised, looking a little sheepish. "Something in the game just spooked me." She chuckled nervously, pointing to the visor.

"Okay." Her mother relented. "Dinner will be ready in an hour."

"Thanks mom!" Dainya smiled, before pulling the visor back down in time for the world to shake and fill with dust as GeoGreymon landed.

"Welcome back!" Sythe greeted through her manic grin.

Blinking as she adjusted to being back in the game world. Loosening her grip on GeoGreymon, Dainya pushed herself up, looking over the valley. It wasn't hard to spot her partner battling against Deltamon and Fangmon.

Fangmon was a canine like Lykiomon, but incredibly different. Fangmon was more like a fox, drawn in a twisted gothic style with a long body and a long jaw to match, lined with sharp teeth, and the eyes on his head matched, sharp and a sickly yellow with threatening black slits for pupils. Its body was a bright red, like fresh blood. Leather belts bound along its legs, wrapped around its skinny body.

Deltamon was another large dinosaur, blue this time with a white muzzle and chest, three black waves upon its nose and three circles in a triangle shape upon it's torso, underlined with a rectangle. Twin tails rose from it's back, one ending in a white tip and the other with a metal casing on the end. The most interesting point, however, was its arms. They weren't claws, or pincers but heads. A long, metal serpent head with a long pink organic tongue made up the right arm, while a colossal skull made up the left arm.

At present Lykiomon was able to evade the two, dodging and weaving as they lashed out in close range, never truly able to catch her, but preventing her from escaping. It was then a shadow loomed over her, as Cyclonemon recovered from his fall and raised his massive arm up.

"LYKIOMON!" Dainya cried out, moving to dash forward and freezing when she realised she was still high on GeoGreymon's head.

The wolf Digimon had time enough to realise that she was boxed in before the colossal arm should have crushed her, but instead a fire ball crashed into Cyclonemon's face, twisting his head and stalling his attack as a red figure dove down from the skies, crashing straight into the monstrous Digimon.

"IMPACT CLAW!" Drakemon cried, his initial blow made more devastating by the speed he had built up in his dive.

Not stopping there, he kept pummelling his enemy as he was forced back thanks to the force of his acceleration, Cait leaping from his back and skidding and rolling through the dust before coming to a halt, whipping out his digivice and a blue disc as he rose.

"Stat modifier! Speed up!" He cried, slashing the disc through his digivice, blue sparks leaving his hand as the disc vanished.

A blue glow surrounded Drakemon as his punches came in faster. Cyclonemon had stopped moving back now but wasn't able to find a gap in the assault as Drakemon slammed his fists again and again into the dinosaur type Digimon.

"Hey Punk!" Guitar Villain cried out. "You ain't the only one capable of belting out that tune!"

Reaching up, he pulled his digivice from his neck and pulled a yellow disc from the pocket of his leather jack, and like Cait sliced the disc through the small device.

"Stat modifier, Defence up!"

A yellow glow surrounded Cyclonemon and Drakemon's blows visibly began to have less effect. Rearing back his arm, he swung forward at his red aggressor.

"Arm Bomber!"

Such was the force of the blow that Drakemon left the ground, hurtling through the air before crashing along the ground.

"Drakemon! Shake it off!" Cait called over to his partner.

"I'll give you shake it off…" The dragon type grumbled as he crawled up onto all fours, shaking his head as if to clear his mind, the blue glow fading from his body.

"Swipe Steal!" Fangmon leapt into the air, long claws stretched out as he prepared to sink into Drakemon's back, only to jolt back in mid-air as a large set of claws seized his tail, before spinning him around and hurling him into Cyclonemon, who deftly caught him in the enlarged claw.

"We need to work on your aim GeoGreymon." Sythe scolded.

"I'm not a fan of the hammer toss anyway." The dinosaur rumbled, each word like a small roar. "Let's try for wrestling instead…"

With a 'whoof'ing noise GeoGreymon was knocked flat by a furry projectile as Lyikomon slammed into his back.

"Can we have a little focus please children?" Abacus pulled himself off the ground, dusting down his shirt as he recovered from his fall. "I believe you designated _me_ as your opponent?" Raising a hand, Abacus pressed his thumb to his middle finger. "Deltamon. Attack." With force and friction his fingers emitted a loud 'snap' noise, his partner opening up all three heads, a bright white light appearing within their throats before strands of light connected them. All of this took only a pair of moments.

"Triplex Force!" The blue dinosaur roared unleashing the triangular blast of energy straight at GeoGreymon, whose own jaws drew wide.

"Mega Burst!" GeoGreymon countered, his roar unleashing a torrent of blazing energy which collided with the Triplex Force attack, the shining blast from the virus type proving too strong as it acted like a wall, pushing back GeoGreymon's flames before bathing him in light causing the vaccine to roar in pain as it was pushed back, Dainya barely biting back her own cry (reminding herself that it wasn't really happening and her mother wouldn't appreciate the noise) as they were forced into the valley wall, the light fading as Deltamon had to break from the attack.

"GeoGreymon!" Dainya called as she felt the dinosaur slump, still clinging to his horn to keep her balance.

"Grrrraaagghhhh…Imalright…" He grumbled, straightening a little.

"Dainya, honey, you might want to leave the room." Sythe had released her grip and moved around to stand squarely on her partner's head. "Big people have to talk now."

Though disliking the inference that she was a child, Dainya did agree that it was probably for the best that she evacuates the dinosaur as rapidly as possible. Before she could work out how, a clawed hand seized her and swung her around, lowering her to the ground. She watched as GeoGreymon drew his arm back up into a combat stance, her angle allowing her to see only the aggressive face of Sythe as she stood ready on GeoGreymon's head.

"ATTACK!" She cried, swinging out her arm, prompting her partner to charge their blue enemy.

"Triplex For…"

"Spiral Fang!"

Deltamon stumbled as the rapidly rotating form of Lykiomon slammed into his back before darting back. The blue virus went to snap at her with one of its great jaws, but then remembered the orange vaccine charging it.

"Stat Modifier! Speed up!" Sythe called, slashing the disc through, causing the blue glow to surround her partner as his charge picked up speed, his great legs stretching out and pounding the ground as he broke into a sprint, Deltamon only just able to get his arms back up in time to prevent collision, the force of the two meeting still driving him back as GeoGreymon seized a hold of the metal and skull jaws, forcing them shut.

"Gotcha!" Sythe grinned as the two Digimon began to push against each other; Deltamon's powerful Triplex force became sealed as his second and third jaws became trapped.

A problem Lykiomon didn't have.

"Raksha's Cry!" She howled, unleashing the torrent of air into Deltamon's back, causing it to cry out and sink to its knees, Sythe suddenly sliding back to GeoGremon's shoulders.

"Seal it with a kiss!" She called, her partner rearing up his head.

"Mega Horn!" He cried, swinging back down again and delivering what looked more like a vicious head-butt to the top of Deltamon's cranium. Again, and again, and again, keeping him up by pulling on his arms until a blast of some kind of dark smoke struck at his own back, causing GeoGreymon to cry out.

"What the hey!" Sythe cried, clinging to her partner in order to not fall.

"Sorry but we're a little short on the team work on our end!" Cait cried, not removing his eyes from his partner and he made short dashes to keep Drakemon in his field of vision, the dragon in question had been taking advantage of his ability to fly to keep out of the enemy's reach, though he had spent most of that time dodging as Cyclonemon and Fangmon lashed out with their Hyper Heat and Blast Coffin attacks. Though with Fangmon now distracted by saving Deltamon, Drakemon took the chance to counter attack.

"Dragon Burn!" He cried, a 'foomph' noise banging out from his haw as he launched a three fire balls down at Cyclonemon, each impacting and exploding against the dinosaur type's massive frames, a shuddering roar emitting from within the smoke before a colossal red beam burst out.

"Hyper Heat!" Cyclonemon cried, his large jaw pulled fully open to unleash the burst of raw heat and energy, Drakemon rolling to the side to avoid it.

"Why don't y'all just quit now?" Guitar chided, leaning against the rock wall. "Y'all ain't no match for Cyclonemon."

"NO!" Rum interrupted. "I wants to see them squirm and scream! The struggle is sooo juicy. Fangmon! Tear them and slice them! Rip them and rend them! Do it now! Keeeheeheehee!"

As GeoGreymon now struggled to keep dominance over Deltamon, Fangmon rushed at his back, leaping into the air with long claws extended.

"Swipe Steal!"

"Lykiomon! Stop him!"

Responding to her partner's call, Lykiomon charged forward at the red Digimon.

"Spiral Fang!"

Both would have screamed if possible as Lykiomon's spinning form drilled into Fangmon's body and Fangmon's claws ripped into Lykiomon's rotating body, the two crashing to the ground before continuing their fight in a feral manner, clawing and ripping at one another as Lykiomon's eyes dilated and she attacked savagely.

"Oh boy…" Dainya paled, watching the scene. "I need to get her some anger management lessons."

'This thing's a stale-mate…' Cait thought, observing the battle. GeoGreymon and Deltamon locked in a sumo match, Lykiomon and Fangmon scrapping with one another, Drakemon and Cyclonemon staying out of the other's reach, doding projectile blasts (or in Cyclonemon's case, enduring them). 'We have a small advantage but at this rate the fight's going nowhere.'

"ARGH! This is going nowhere!" Guitar suddenly yelled, stepping forward and slamming his foot down.

"Patience Guitar…" Rum bobbed his head. "Every scream and squeal counts."

"I don't care 'bout that! This show is getting dull!"

"You may have a point." Abacus grinned. "Why don't you unleash our trump card then?" He pushed his glasses up his face once more.

"With pleasure! Cyclonemon, it's time for the big finish! Let's wreck the stage!"

Swinging out his digivice, Guitar aimed it at his partner before it began to beep wildly and unleashed a dazzling white light, Cyclonemon vanishing within a massive wave of light. 'Oh crap' being a thought flying through the minds of Cait, Sythe, Drakemon and GeoGreymon, while Dainya looked on bewildered and Lykiomon was just too caught up in trying to maul Fangmon.

"Cyclonemon Digivolve to…" The light covering the champion surged and arced into the sky, mapping out the form of a larger creature before once more bursting and shining out, leaving the new form in the sky. "Megadramon!"

"Hey…I remember this guy…" Dainay uttered, pulling out her Digivice.

**Megadramon**

**Level: Ultimate**

**Type: Virus**

**Attacks:** Genocide Attack, Ultimate Slicer, Parry Force

"Such bad use of grammar." Cait muttered, tucking away his own digivice.

"Y'know, it's not his grammar and spelling that worry me." Drakemon called back to his partner.

Megadramon was reminiscent of the monsters known as Naga, with orange reptilian scales and an absence of legs, instead a long snake tail with blue metal ridges along the under side with a purple trim of fur along the back. He possessed an over muscular torso and a dragon like head capped with a metal helm lined with long back spikes and a shock of spiky purple hair sticking out. Its wings were broad and shaped like individual giant feathers, some apparently stitched together. The two points that were likely to be worrying Drakemon were that its hands were giant bladed missile silos and it was about five times his sieze.

"Genocide attack…" Megadramon rumbled, opening up the silos on its arms and with a screech and a 'kaboomf' it fired out a barrage of missiles, one after another towards its aerial adversary, the advantage of flight no longer exclusive made aiming much easier as Drakemon wheeled around almost wildly in an effort to evade missiles that almost equalled him in size.

"Stat modifier! Speed up!" Cait called, slicing another disc through his digivice. 'And that's it from me…' he bemoaned, watching as the blue glow surrounded his partner who began to loop through the attacks with greater ease, faster now, only to have his eyes widen as Megadramon switched tactics.

"Drakemon look out!" He called, but too late.

Screened by the latest barrage Megadramon had moved, pulling up before Drakemon, his arm raised. Ready for the clawed silo to surge forward, Drakemon missed the tail swinging up from below, striking him in the back and throwing him out of his evasive posture and giving Megadramon an easy shot.

"Ultimate Slicer…" The clawed silo swung down, driving into Drakemon's chest and sending him flying into the ground were e lay stunned.

"Drakemon!" Cait cried, rushing towards his partner.

Distracted by the falling of his comrade, GeoGreymon twisted his head and lost focus as he tried to spy the dragon's fate, giving Deltamon a chance to counter attack.

"Skull Fang!" He roared, the Skull head suddenly stretching out on its spine like forearm and pushing GeoGreymon back enough that he lost his grip on the metal head and tumbled back, skidding along the ground as the skull arm pulled free before biting into GeoGreymon's forearm and slamming him into the far wall before withdrawing back to the main body.

"Triplex Force!"

"Oh shi…" Was as far as Sythe and her partner got before the white light slammed into them, shattering the surrounding rocks and causing the dinosaur to wail in pain before slumping to the ground as the light faded away.

"Sythe! GeoGreymon!" Dainya cried, looking over at the unmoving pair, GeoGreymon shining and reverting into Agumon, dropping Sythe to the ground.

"C'mon Drakemon, get up!" Wheeling around, Dainya watched as Cait tried to rouse his partner who sagged rather than rise.

"Ultimate Slicer!" Megadramon roared, sweeping in on the brawling pair of Lykiomon and Fangmon, slamming its body into the middle to separate them before driving the clawed silo into Lykiomon, the claws open as he pinned her against the wall of the canyon, the large wolf crying out.

"Lykiomon!" Dainya cried, running towards her partner before squirming and freezing as a large explosion went off.

"Genocide Attack…" Megadramon had uttered, damaging his own arm as he fired a missile point blank into Lykiomon, the smoke fading to reveal an unconscious Lupmon, still pinned by Megadramon claw.

"L…lupmon…" Dainya stuttered, looking at the beaten form of her partner before sinking to her knees in disbelief.

Cait continued to try and rouse his partner before freezing up at a growling noise, Fangmon taking the time to prowl around him, it's nature leaving it unperturbed by the damage taken from the assault by it's own ally.

"No hard feelings 'bout the damage to Fangmon?" Guitar smirked.

"All pain is our pleasure…" Rum chuckled. "Just be glad that you made that look painful, otherwise I might not have been so forgiving…"

"This is the difference between an ultimate and a champion." Abacus smiled. "You didn't have a chance of winning from the start. Guitar, would you be so kind?"

The rocker smiled and nodded before waving over to his partner.

"Megadramon! Finish em' off!"

"Genocide…"

"Deep Sorrow!"

A chilling and hateful voice filled the air as a dark light slammed into Megadramon, forcing him into the ground, the blast distorting his image and causing the monster to cry out, Lupmon dropping to the ground and Dainya rushing to her side.

"Who dares?" Abacus cried, looking up towards the top of the valley where a lanky figure hung outlined by the sun.

"Whoever they are they're toast!" Guitar cried, waving out an arm. "Megadramon go! Speed up, power up!" The PK called, slicing discs through his digivice as his partner roared and took flight, red and blue lights lashing off of his body as he soared up towards the figure.

"Genocide Attack!" He roared, unleashing a wave of missiles before rearing his arm back and climbing faster. "Ultimate Slicer!"

"Deep Sorrow!" The chilling voice rang out again, the dark light blaring out and tearing through the missiles, detonating each as they shuddered within the attack, Megadramon passing through behind them and lashing out with his claw, only for it to be caught, a feat that was made more impressive as the newcomer seemed to be only half Megadramon's size.

"Guilty Claw." Swinging back its free arm, the new Digimon swung down and sliced into Megadramon, causing it to cry out and fall back, the second claw drawing back before unleashing a second Guilty Claw, driving it into Megadramon's gut as it forced him back down into the valley, a large cracking sound and dust cloud accompanying their landing. When the smoke cleared, the new Digimon could clearly be seen. It was humanoid, and resembled a gothic demon. Its skin was blue and its forearms stretched down past its knees, the latter part being bound in red leather wraps, its fingers were long and bladed and on the upper part of the forearms three red blades grew. It's torso was bare, with bronze studs running up the left side starting from the naval and finishing on its shoulder, each larger than the last. The legs were bound in tight black leather with golden shin guards shaped like coffins strapped to the thighs, large black spiked boots on the feet. A black iron shoulder guard resided on the right shoulder and tattered red devil wings grew from the back. Long black and grey hair spilled in spiky strands from beneath a golden facemask, featureless save for a lone, long, horn growing at an angle on the left, running at an odd angle before curving upward in a short spike. At present, it had pulled Megadramon's head up with one of its large claw hands, the other drawn back and crackling with dark energy.

"There is a large gap in power between an ultimate and a champion…" It spoke in a manner that even seemed to chill the psychotic red rum. "But the gap between a weakling like this and a true ultimate like myself…is even GREATER!" With that, the claw swung down, impaling Megadramon through the chest.

"Guilty Claw!" The Digimon cried, before tearing the arm back out by ripping it through Megadramon's side, the cyborg type allowing it one last wail before disintegrating into data particles which the new comer promptly absorbed, cackling madly as it did.

"Keeheehee…I like him." Rum chuckled, hunched over. "Pity I'm going to tear him apart! Fangmon!"

"Don't you fool!" Abacus called, too late to stop the red Digimon from rushing forward, its jaws opening wide as it unleashed the vicious corrosive gas of its Blast Coffin attack before leaping forward with its Swipe Steal, only to find itself too trapped in the massive claws, the ultimate unharmed by the assault.

"Too easy…" The Digimon rumbled, squeezing Fangmon and causing it to yelp and squeal in pain. "Stun Claw!" Dark energies soared through the claw, seemingly electrocuting Fangmon who yelped and wailed before going near silent with a strained cry and collapsing into base parts, once more absorbed by this beast.

"Wh…what is he…?" Dainya gasped, watching the display while cradling Lupmon in her arms.

"NeoDevimon."

Looking up, Dainya saw Cait backed by a very groggy looking Drakemon, the cloak clad adventurer's face was grim set as he looked over at the fallen angel type.

"There's no way that thing's indigenous, you don't get enemies that strong in this area."

Fumbling with her digivice, Dainya began to worry more as Cait spoke, aiming the machine and NeoDevimon she took stock of him.

**NeoDevimon**

**Level: Ultimate**

**Type: Virus**

**Attacks: **Guilty Claw, Deep Sorrow, Shock Claw.

"Not much use there." Cait shook his head at her.

"But he's on our side…right?" Dainya asked, Cait twitching a little as she turned big, round concerned eyes on him.

"I'm afraid I wouldn't bet on it." He sighed, watching as Deltamon tried to drive him back with his devastating Triplex Force, only to have NeoDevimon walk through, one claw raised, surrounded by the energies of Guilty Claw as it walked through the blast, deflecting the destructive light.

Upon Reaching the virus type it sized the skull arm with the guilty claw and like GeoGreymon forced it shut, causing the Triplex Force to cease and allowing the other hand to seize and hold the metal one before beginning to pull each in the opposite direction. The rending noise and the cry of Deltamon accompanied the arms being torn off before being dropped and Deltamon silenced as a twin Guilty Claw attack carved through his body, obliterating him.

"Keeheee…" Rum's laugh was lighter now. "Gotta admit…it was pretty cool…"

"Deep Sorrow!"

Bathed in the black light, the last sounds of the PKs was Rum's maddening laugh, 'Keeeheeeheeheeheeeheeee!', before going silent as the attack disintegrated now the three partners of the destroyed Digimon.

"Now…which of you is next?" NeoDevimon turned slowly, his wings flapping gently behind him as he fixed his eyes on Dainya, Cait, Drakemon and Lupmon.

"Ah great…he means us." Cait sighed, looking back at Drakemon. Dainya noted that despite his cavalier tone, the expression on his face was sad and apologetic, far more so than she would have expected to have seen.

With a nod, Drakemon grimly spread his wings and began to flap them, pulling himself a little off the ground before pushing off with his large toes and breaking into as fast a flight as he could manage, circling around NeoDevimon.

"Dragon Burn!" He called, unleashing a stream of fireballs against the ultimate which exploded again and again until the fallen angel saw fit to take flight, seemingly unscathed from the champion's assault, one claw raised back and ready to deliver the signature killing move once more. As fast as Drakemon was, NeoDevimon was faster.

"Guilty claw!"

"Exacalibur!"

In a flash of light, NeoDevimon was blocked as an angelic form appeared, a long shining blade clutched in both hands as white and black light sparked from where it met the guilty claw before the two figures pushed each other back, hovering in the air.

"DUES EX MACHINAAAAA!" Cried Cait in joy as Drakemon wheeled around and landed by him, gazing up at the angel type who had just swept in and saved them, Dainya fumbling with her digivice again, unable to recognise their apparent savior.

**LordHolyAngemon**

**Level: Ultimate**

**Type: Vaccine**

**Attacks:** Excalibur, Soul Banishment.

Like all Angemon incarnations, this one's face was obscured by a helm, in this case bright white with a silver 'T' like mark upside down on the front and small wings on the side, long golden hair streaming out the back. A single pair of angel wings grew from his back, but these were much larger than that of any other. On his body he wore a long white scarf about his neck, the tails hanging down to his knees and a tuft of white fur protruded from beneath the collar. He wore white layered shoulder pads with wings of cloth sticking out from underneath, hiding his bare arms up until they were coated with long white cloves, bound tight with golden buckles. A great black belt with golden lining sat on his waist with a large peace emblem on the front, the robes splitting beneath it to trail down on either side of his legs which were covered by white trousers with spiked frayed edges, just covering the tops of his white studded boots.

"Nice save Angemon!" A man called from the cliff tops, his appearance fitting to that of his partner as he was in simple bright white robes covered with silver armour on the torso, shoulders and wrists, a silver helm upon his head.

"This guy is on our side right?" Dainya asked once more.

"Yes…oh yes." Cait grinned, looking almost giddy. "This guy is a legend Dainya! You see, there's one last category that Sythe forgot to mention. PKKs."

"PKKs?" Dainya repeated, confusion clear over this new 'k'.

"Player Killer Killers." Cait explained. "I know, a little silly sounding, but they are players who dedicate themselves to hunting down and eradicating PKs. Most suck at it, but every so often you get PvP nuts like Sythe who'll turn to it, seeking out a real challenge. This guy is one of them! Silver! One of the best PvPers I've met and a great PKK!"

"So…A real challenge presents itself." NeoDevimon grinned sadistically. "I'm going to enjoy tearing your wings off."

"Villain! Thou shalt not draw another breath, save to scream out in pain and for mercy when mine blade impales thee!" LordHoly Angemon swung his Excalibur around, pointing at NeoDevimon's chest.

"Bring it!"

"Have at thee!"

"Deep Sorrow!"

"Soul Banishment!"

Dark Light and White Light exploded from the combatants, racing towards each other only to fall short as a flash appeared between them, a new figure soaking up the energies.

"Whaddya think this is? Piccadilly circus?" Drakemon cried as the battle was interrupted.

Halting their attacks, both ultimate levels looked rather shocked when they saw what had come between them. There, hovering in the sky, was a knight like Digimon, clad in white armour and wielding a great lance and shield, each almost as big as his own body, the chest, shield, knee guards, gauntlets and helm all bore the digital hazard emblem, the helm shaped like a red dinosaur head wile large red shoulder pads, lined with a golden rim, sat on his shoulder, a red cape fluttering behind him.

"Gallantmon…" Dainya gasped.

"By order of the Moderators this battle must cease!"

Floating down beside the Digimon, a suit-clad figure spoke, his hands in his pockets and he flashed all present with a charming grin, though he spoke in a chilling fashion. Glaring around, he suddenly switched to a friendlier tone.

"Now that I have your attention, I'm looking for a Miss Dainya."

Growling, NeoDevimon swiped the air in frustration.

"It's no fun when the teacher steps in! I'm outta here!"

Flapping his wings, the fallen angel sped off into the valley, weaving around the bends as LordHolyAngemon floated down beside his partner.

"May we be of assistance?" He asked.

"Not unless you're name is Dainya."

"Very well. Take care." Silver nodded, before turning and allowing LordHolyAngemon to lift him into his arms and take off into the air.

Gently floating down to the ground, Gallantmon and his partner settled down before Dainya and Cait just as Drakemon faded back into being Komodomon.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Duke, one of the moderators of Digimon Online." A small panel flashed before him, displaying credentials and proof of his status. "And I have some questions I'd like to ask you."

As he looked down at her, Dainya gulped.

---

A lone player stood on a rocky outcrop within the Valley, clad in a black biker jacket with long blonde hair streaming down her back, black streaks throughout, the white stalk of a lollypop sticking out of her mouth. Around her neck was a red bandanna and she wore a red crop top with a white skull over her chest with tight leather trousers covered with ornate belts with silver buckles, her boots reminiscent of Beelzemon's great spiked ones. Standing with her arms crossed, she eventually reached up and removed the sunglasses she wore as NeoDevimon came into her line of sight, flapping his wings to slow himself he settled by her. An amused look spread across the woman's face, as reached up and plucked the lollypop from her mouth.

"Well?" She asked.

"They're alive at least." The virus responded, turning to face her.

"You know, I still don't get why you have such an interest in that girl." The biker shrugged.

"It's not your place to understand me." NeoDevimon seemed to glare, despite having no visible features. "Only to help me digivolve."

"Yeah, yeah." The woman sighed, clearly not intimidated. "I still think you're just trying to get back on Stoker's good side."

"As if I care what he and his toy soldiers think of me!" The devil snorted before shining bright and shrinking down, returning to his rookie form.

"Say what you want, I still think you were just trying to make up for starting these problems in the first place."

"D'ose goons can argue all dey want. I just went with what I taught was amusing at da time."

"You're lies are as bad as your advice Impmon." The player grinned, walking off.

"Hey! Don't turn yer back on me! I won't stand for dat!" Running, the small virus began to catch up to his partner. "Lets blow dis joint, I've had enough of doing Stoker errands, and I've had my fill of little girls and wolves too! Saving dem isn't as fun as getting dem in trouble. C'mon toots."

"Whatever you say boss." The biker responded. "Whatever you say…"

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Raven: **And Keyo said, "Let there be plot!" And there was plot. And Raven saw that the plot was good. Then said Raven unto Keyo, "We really should have split this into two chapters."

Look at it people, this thing's longer than my notes. Of course, I don't have much to say today because there was only one new character introduced. I'll let Keyo talk about said tribute character, Silver Seraph, seeing as he's more fan of the man than I am. I do respect Silver though, because anybody who can come up with that many original RPGs (most of them in a rather dark setting) deserves a cookie. Not a kudos bar, a _cookie._

**Keyo: **I really should write these things earlier.

What can I say? Battles often don't allow for much plot development but we managed to fire some in here anyway.

The battle was freakin' tough to work through. While these things can be very fast paced to look at, choreographing them can be a bit of a chore. Fortunately I had a stock of good music on my side and it was fun getting to use Neo Devimon.

I know it seems we have a lot of interruptions at the end (even Drakemon noticed it) but they were kinda important, and I had to do them then or spin NeoDevimon vs LordHolyAngemon into another chapter consuming battle. Before you all ask, yes it is the same Impmon who's been sending Dainya around.

Silver is a tribute to Silver Seraph of the Megatokyo Forum Role Plays. He's responsible for some of the most imaginative games on the board and has some major dedication, being able to keep up with everything despite the hectic pattern of his real life.

In buffer news, Chapter 13 has been started, but I'm all kinds of not happy with it. Le sigh.

17


	13. Chapter 13

**Keyo:** Sorry this chapter is a bit late.

Standards apply. Bandai owns their stuff; we own ours, and the notes are in their turf down at the bottom.

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Chapter 13: Side-quest! Part 5

Walk and talk.

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When it comes to interrogations and questionings there are typically two roles the interrogator can take, good cop or bad cop. One works to try and build trust and a level of respect between the interrogator and subject, while the other works on scaring the subjects socks out through their nose until they squeal. Duke seemed to have quite happily taken on the role of good cop, providing Lupmon, Agumon and Sythe with a swift resuscitation. This scenario was resulted in a very cheery Lupmon, a rather disgruntled Agumon, and a plainly outraged Sythe, wholly unhappy with her defeat and preceded to sulk as Dainya delivered her rendition of her previous encounters with the hacker known as Eight Ball.

Throughout the telling of the second encounter, she was nervous. Despite the revelation of her allegiance with Eight Ball, Dainya felt like she was selling Min out by telling the moderator about her involvement. But it was a little hard to lie to the handsome smiling mod, especially when he was backed by a near 20-foot tall knight. (Though said knight did look a little less intimidating with Lupmon sniffing around his feet.)

"And then she left. And she warned me about running into them again…not like a threat!" Dainya waved her hands in denial, still not wanting to present a false image of the hat clad player. "She said that…that…" Her eyes scrunched up as she tried to recall the words spoken to her. "That their work was too important…I don't know what that meant though." Dainya muddled, looking rather confused and sad. She was also irritated, she'd wanted to talk to Cait privately about this, but there wasn't much you could do, she figured, other than tell the truth when a moderator asked you.

"I see." Duke nodded in what was probably meant to be a sagely manner, eyes closed with one arm crossed over his chest, the other raised to allow his index finger and thumb to cup his chin. "I'll be sure to report all you've told me to the higher ups."

"Excuse me but, what will happen after that?" Dainya almost shouted, surprising herself and turning a little red in embarrassment. "To Min, I mean."

"Well, we'd normally just call up her account and hit delete and then ban her IP address, banishing her from the digital world." Duke rambled, waving his hand around in an idle manner. "But because of certain constraints, we can't."

"Constraints?" Dainya tilted her head.

"I'm afraid it's all rather classified." Duke sighed. "But rest assured that this Min is dangerous, and as far as the moderators are concerned, anyone associated with Eight Ball is an enemy of the game." Turning, he began to walk back to his partner, signaling for him to kneel, allowing the moderator to step into his arms, the knight Digimon lifting him up to rest on his shoulder.

"I really shouldn't be saying this, but it's embarrassing how little we know about Eight Ball and his plans, or how many players he's been able to recruit to cause, but as you yourselves have witnessed, he is able to take control of the NPC Digimon and command them as he sees fit. Additionally, even when we do find the identities of his allies, we cannot remotely delete their account. It would be best for you to put them both out of your mind and simply enjoy the game. Please, take care."

Crouching, Gallantmon prepared to launch into the air, only to pause as Cait called out.

"Hey! One question before you go!"

Raising an eyebrow, Duke looked down at the adventurer, Dainya too looked over at him, and even Liz stopped sulking for a moment to two to give her attention.

"Is the flying Gallantmon a mod thing or are you actually in favour of all Mega levels just being able to fly?"

"You kidding me?" Duke laughed. "I've been pushing for a Grani since I started working here. Take care guys, have fun!" Waving down, Duke held on as Gallantmon pushed up into the air, turning and flying off before vanishing in a blast of light.

"You ask the strangest questions." Sythe sighed as she walked by Cait, heading in the direction of Fossil Town. "Well, I don't know about you but I've had enough of rocks and dust, let's get back to Fossil Town and catch the first train to someplace greener…or bluer…or any colour other than this rust red!"

"Don't say things like that…" Cait sighed. "You know it's only going to make Komodomon hop around in your face for the rest of the night."

Glaring at the now broadly grinning lizard, Sythe groaned and resumed her dogged pace.

"I don't care, let's just go…C'mon Agumon."

Nodding, the orange lizard proceeded to pad along behind his partner, Komodomon darting around and making faces at the irate white clad player, while Cait sighed, watching their antics.

"C'mon Dainya, we better not fall behind."

Snapping out of the sulk she had settled into, Dainya looked startled before providing the adventurer with a nervous smile.

"Ah, yeah, lets. C'mon Lupmon!…Lupmon?"

Finding that her partner Digimon was no longer where she had been Dainya glanced around before finding the wolf like being prancing around dodging Sythe's swats along with her Aniki.

"Wow…she got her energy back fast." Dainya blinked at the bouncing Digimon.

"From unconscious, to star struck, to hyper active." Cait grinned. "It's amazing what a moderator grade recovery disc can do eh?"

Nodding, Dainya began to walk alongside the cloaked adventurer, self consciously twiddling with her fingers as she tried to work out exactly how to approach her friend with her questions. Would he even have answers, it wasn't as if he was a moderator or anything, actually, she didn't know all that much about him. They had played together all of her first night, but they'd mostly talked about the game and Digimon in general, she didn't know anything about who he really was, did she even have the right to call him a friend?

"Dainya…you're going to hyperventilate."

Snapping her hands to her mouth Dainya turned to her companion before stuttering through several efforts at a response, her ability to speak hindered by the spider-web of thoughts currently spinning themselves in her head. It had also taken her a few moments to realise she was trying to speak through her hands at first.

"Something on your mind or is something happening in the real world?" Cait cocked his head as he asked, keeping his voice a little low in case it was the latter, so as to avoid being over-heard, or out of the instinctive human reaction of whispering over, what they at least perceive, as a sensitive matter.

"N-no, I just…anuh…I was…I'm just kinda thinking too much." Dainya turned a little red in embarrassment, as well as an effect of her rapid breathing.

"Done that before. So did you come after the treasure too? Because it was a beaut."

Her eyes lighting up at the mention of treasure, Dainya pushed her current thoughts to the side as Cait pulled the PlatinumNumemon statue out from his inventory, holding the shining statue of the winged precious mollusc Digimon.

"It looks really weird." Dainya smiled, poking her tongue out at it as a way to elevate her mood.

"Well…it is a Numemon statue." Cait grinned, turning it around to face himself. "But this baby is going to pay off replacing the discs I used."

"Will it pay mine off too?"

Pausing, Sythe had turned and fixed the treasure hunter with a threatening look.

"Because I had to waste a speed disc back there, and I expect you to re-in burse me for the Trailmon tickets that brought us here, and you're paying for us to go back!" Stomping around, she found her path obstructed by Komodomon and Lupmon, both with their long mouths stretched out and tongues hanging out, eyes crossed. Growling in frustration, she lashed out with a series of swipes, causing the pair to chuckle as they dodged out the way, allowing the her to resume her march back to town, Agumon continuing on in her wake, casting disapproving glances at the other Digimon as they laughed.

"Why have I got to pay!?" Cait shouted after the PvP freak.

"Cause this whole Lame Duck chase was about finding you." Sythe retorted, waving a hand in the air. "Should have known trouble would have been looking for you too…" She grumbled.

"Meh-huh?" Was Cait's highly intelligent and dignified response.

"I ah…I asked Sythe to help me find you." Dainya admitted, not looking at the adventurer.

"Never did say why…" Sythe called, flashing a roughish grin back at the pair, drawing another 'meh-huh?' from Cait, and causing a blank look for Dainya that preceded an embarrassed and frustrated return to red as she caught the reference to Sythe's earlier prodding. "Or why she couldn't just e-mail you."

"Because I didn't have his address!" Dainya protested.

Watching the girl become more and more flustered, Cait opted to hold back on telling her she just had to fire his name into the Forum's user search and get it from his profile.

"It's the adventurers way!" He proclaimed. "You PvP guys may be fine with sending letters to insult one another's honour and arrange a time and place for little death dates, but we adventurers like to do things the fun way!"

Sighing, Sythe grumbled something about adventurers and how crazy they all were.

"Sorry about her." Cait apologised, bowing his head. "She can be rather…aggressive, sometimes."

"Eh…it's okay." Dainya hurriedly replied, swinging her head down into a deeper bow. "I never did actually tell her."

Resuming their walk, Cait smiled down at her.

"So why don't you tell me now?"

Twiddling her fingers once more, Dainya cast her eyes to the ground as she once more tried to arrange her thoughts, and focusing on not hyperventilating again, and, in low tones, brought the topic up.

"It's about when I ran into Eight Ball that second time. I have a lot of questions about the whole thing, and the moderator answered a few of them but…" Looking down at her hand, she flexed it experimentally. "When Lupmon first digivolved, and again each time since, my hand went all…cold, the one that glows. It went all tingly, and then it went numb." Cait's eyebrows furrowed, and looking at him Dainya was sure that she was sounding very weird and crazy.

"I'm afraid that I can't answer that." Cait sighed. "If you want to know what it was, that is." Nursing his temples, the adventurer let his gaze settle on his partner and Lupmon, the red lizard talking animatedly, describing, and exaggerating, more of his adventures to his loyal follower, who listened with wide eyes and rapt attention.

"So…am I crazy?" She asked, nursing the hand in question.

"No." Cait assured her. "You're not."

Looking back to the girl, Cait sighed and restored a smile to his face.

"Sorry I couldn't be of more help."

"No…it's okay. It was a bit of a silly thing anyway." Dainya smiled back, scratching at the back of her head.

"Silly things can be very interesting though." Cait chuckled.

"Oh! Like clouds shaped like bumble bees!" Dainya's face lit up.

"Or cats chasing bits of string."

Switching into a topic of silly things, the players laughed amongst themselves, eventually pulling Sythe from her funk and getting her to join in, Komodomon and Lupmon happily throwing in their two bits while Agumon tried to remain aloof, despite sniggering once or twice.

---

Upon File Island there is an area with a sky filled with black clouds and dead trees, sickly weeds growing in bunches, as flowers lacked the fortitude to do so. Hills were decorated with tombstones and monuments to the apparent dead while the shades of spirits flitted across the landscape, the occasional ghostly Bakumon appeared in places, the tattered white sheets lumped over their body in a Pac-man ghost shape, with hollow eyes and jagged jaws. It is here, sheltered by mist and rain that a great Victorian Manor house stood, with drab grey walls and worn red roof tiling. Through its dark oak doors were halls lined with candles, suspended in the air by apparent nothingness, casting light into the stone lined gloom. At the end of a long corridor was a large hall with a long oak table, the sort used to hold great feasts in warm light and happy music, but this hall was as gloomy as the entrance way, and it was here that the figure of Eight Ball stood, little of the light touched upon him as the shadows seemed to coil and wrap around him, darkening his appearance. In a chair to one side, sat Min, her grand hat placed upon the table before her, and from the bulge in her robes it was apparent that she had one leg draped over the other. Beside her, Demidevimon was perched on the wooden backing of another chair, covering her mouth with one wing as she yawned. Across from then sat another pair, though in a much less dignified fashion. The player was sitting cross-legged upon the table, his trousers of the same smart uniform as Eight, but tattered and rumpled. His feet were bare, as was his torso, a necklace bearing a string of teeth the size of most coconuts sat around his neck while wild black hair streamed down his back, his grey and ice white digivice dangling from a cord about his wrist, his eyes were closed. His Digimon, a biped from what could be seen, leaned back against the wall, like Eight, masked by shadow.

"What of our final officer?" A voice, irritated but dignified, boomed out from the darkened far side of the table.

"Busy." The half naked player responded in a bored tone. "Not know where."

"Very well." The voice sighed. "It will only be to the disadvantage of his side if he is not in attendance."

"Lieutenant Colonel Eight Ball, I trust our security is no longer compromised?" A stern female voice emitted from the darkness.

"Yes, I spent some of my time during my…leave" Min rolled her eyes at the hacker's choice of words. "Monitoring the moderators and their actions, as well as deleting any, well, paper trail that could give us away."

"Good." The first voice returned. "We are too close now, the very fact the moderators know of your existence within this world is threat enough, if they were to discover us the whole plan could fall apart."

"I assure you, everything will be ready on time." Eight bowed in a formal medieval fashion.

"Now, onto the business of this girl…" The female voice took hold of the conversation.

For the first time the wild looking player opened his eyes, sliding them open enough to reveal feral yellow iris as his interest was apparently peaked, his Digimon too moving for the first time since the meeting began.

---

His jaw wagging, Cait lifted a hand to his mouth in order to obstruct the yawn that tried to force itself from his mouth, the deep noise he made caused Lupmon to laugh.

"What a silly roar you have!" The wolf giggled.

"Sorry." The adventurer apologised. "It's getting late over here."

"I think it's past midnight actually, so technically it's early." Sythe sighed, covering up her own yawn.

At present the group sat watching the sunset through the window of the worm style Trailmon as they travelled back towards Root Town. The car they were travelling in was mostly empty, as it was a time when people were mostly logging on or off, coupled with the fact that few with money travelled back to the small starting town. Sitting upon her haunches, Lupmon's tail wagged against the wooden bench seat as her attention returned to the view outside the window, her nose pushing against the glass as some doggy instinct to hang her head out entered her.

"Oh? So you're a few hours ahead of me then." Dainya surmised, aware of the time outside her visor.

There was a loud 'phweet' noise and the view outside slowed down as the Trailmon drew into the Root Town station, the group departing when the train drew to a stop.

"It's quite nice to get four sunsets a day." Sythe said as she stretched, arching her back before yawning again. "We better log off Cait."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." The adventurer then turned to Dainya. "Are you going to be on tomorrow night?"

"Of course." Dainya threw him a thumbs up.

"Cool, I'll meet you here tomorrow night then. I want to see all of Lupmon's tricks. Want to come too Sythe?"

"Nah." The white clad player shook her head. "I've got an essay to finish and I don't know how long it will take. My Mum thinks I'm working on it now. So I'll leave you to your date."

"Stop teasing Sythe." Cait scolded his friend as Dainya looked a little uncomfortable.

"Okay, okay." Sythe sighed. "Take care Dainya, don't be a stranger 'kay?"

"I won't." Dainya smiled back.

"See you tomorrow." Cait waved as the rings of green binary coding warped around his and Sythe's body, the pair disappearing into nothingness.

"Huh…where did Aniki and Agumon go?" Lupmon cast her head around, looking for the pair of lizards.

"Y'know…that's a good question." Dainya tapped her chin, pondering the fate of a Digimon when their partner was no longer playing.

"Are you going now too?" Lupmon looked up at the girl with the most literal puppy dog eyes Dainya had ever seen.

"Maybe I could stay a bit…" Looking around at something unseen, Dainya then turned back. "Sorry girl, mum says it's bed time. But I'll be back tomorrow."

"Okay…" Lupmon sighed, scuffing her clawed feet on the ground.

Patting her partner on the head, Dainya then selected the log off option and became engulfed in the green binary rings.

"I don't know how you can play that game for so long."

Looking up at her mother, Tanya smiled sheepishly.

"It's fun. It's like a great big world of make-believe, but more real." She explained.

"If you say so kiddo." Her mother smiled, ruffling her daughter's hair. "Now get to bed. You may be a teenager but that doesn't mean I don't get to fuss you around."

"Okay mom." Tanya smiled, placing the visor down on her desk as her mother left.

Once the door was closed, she stopped changing and walked back to the desk and picked up her digivice from where it lay. Unlike the one in game, it was simply white. Leaning down, she placed a kiss on the top, feeling a bit silly.

"Sleep well Lupmon."

---

**Keyo: **No notes from Raven this week as he has been mysteriously absent this week.

Chapter 13 has been a pain to write and I'm sorry it's so late. I was trying to enter an art contest as well this week, but because I'm totally inept with Paint Shop Pro, I couldn't enter.

Still, it was nice to have a wound down chapter from last week's battle, though dialogue is rather irritating to do.

Not much else to say on this one, Raven is much better at rambling than me.

See you next update.


	14. Chapter 14

**Final Angel Keyo:** Turn to Page 4 if you wish to know where the notes are, turn to page 7 if you want to know who owns what, turn to your left if you want to find the meaning of life.

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Chapter 15: Lucid Preparations.

A Dream Awry.

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"Mr Jones?" A young programmer poked her head through the grey door of what counted as the office of the lead programmer for Pandai's American branch.

The office, like the door, was meant to be grey in colour, but the walls of the small box shaped room were lined with posters for not only Digimon but also many other franchises, ranging from monster series to harem romance to giant robots, even the filing cabinets hadn't escaped being decorated. Many people wondered why he had filing cabinets when everything he needed could be stored on his computer, but his only response was 'to file things'

"Given that I know you're not a strip-o-gram, and knowing that a lowly peon like yourself can give me no promotion, lateral or vertical, that would be of great benefit to me I can only assume that you've come to tell me of some grave mess you've made or to let me know that you all gained a super intelligence to rival my own and have finished the programme."

At the back of the room sat a small desk, an unusually large computer tower and monitor sat in the middle of it with models of Digimon and old coffee mugs lining the edges. From behind it the scraggly figure of Cecil Jones rose, his Shaggy like appearance made all the more apparent by the rumpled green shirt he wore, the top three buttons left undone exposing some of his scrawny chest.

"Actually, I have a question about some of the coding."

Sighing, Cecil made his way around the desk, 'tsking' as he did so. Reaching into his shirts breast pocket he pulled out a long thin stick coated with a pink substance from its carton and proceeded to hold it up before the intrusive programmer.

"Mary, do you know what this is?" He asked.

"A stick, sir?" The programmer backed up a little, moderately confused.

"This, my dear, is a piece of Pocky, strawberry flavour in fact. It is a fine treat from the Far East, Japan to be exact. It was first sold in 1965 under the name 'Chocotek'. It was an instant hit and its name was changed to Pocky after the onomatopoetic sound 'pokkin', the sound it makes when bitten." Walking back to his desk, he leaned against it and twirled the snack treat between his fingers, apparently admiring it. "It comes in dozens of varieties from chocolate, to strawberry, to soy bean believe it or not." Sitting back against his desk, he placed the piece in his mouth, clutching it to one side in the same fashion as smoker and their cigarette. "The problem is, this fine treat is only available in said land of the rising sun. I have to order boxes of it online to get my fix. It's one of the many reasons I crave a lateral promotion to the Japanese headquarters." He paused as he snapped off party of his snack and devoured it, keeping the rest in a smoker's grip as he gestured it around. "I want to sit in a Manga Café and write my coding while being served hot tea and," he gestured to the carton in his pocket with the stick. "pocky at ridiculously high prices by a waitress in a ridiculously short skirt. Preferably with an Eevee motif."

Stepping forward, he looped his arm around Mary's shoulders and began to steer her towards the door.

"Eevee?" She asked, distracted and a little bewildered.

"Small fox like creature with long ears, it's from another pet monster series. Don't worry about it; just get back to your station. Because this Expansion is the first big job Pandai has trusted the American branch with, and if we do it well, I could get that lateral promotion." Pulling his arm away again, hen gently patted her on the back while ushering her out the door.

"But sir, about my que…"

"K, K, Thanks, bye."

With a bang, the door closed, leaving the young programmer with a lot of grey in her face. With a frustrated growl, she turned and began to stomp back to her desk.

"Is he always like this?" She moaned.

"Yes I am." Cecil poked his head out of the door, before giving her a small wave, returning his pocky to his mouth, and closing it again leaving a frustrated programmer as he dropped down in his comfy swivel chair and resumed his own coding work.

---

Sitting in the lunch hall of the school, Tanya watched as Charley slurped down the contents of her yoghurt pot before drawing back with a satisfied sigh as she filled her lungs with air once more, before licking around her lips in order to remove the ring of banana flavoured dairy product from around her lips.

"Why can't you ever just use a spoon?" Tanya asked.

"Because it's slow and boring." The unorthodox cheerleader returned, before licking around the inner rim of the pot and attempting to remove as much of the remaining contents as possible with her tongue.

Shaking her head, Tanya resumed the consummation of her own lunch, continuing from where she had left off with her ham and pickle sandwich.

"Say, what are you doing tonight after work?" Charley asked after she once more licked her lips clean.

Looking up at her dark haired friend, Tanya's brain preformed a swift itinerary check before signalling for her to try and shrink back into her neck.

"Eh…a guy asked me to go hang out with him…"

Seeing Charley's eyebrow raise in disbelief and shock, Tanya quickly waved her hands in defence and drew her face forward again before spluttering out clarification.

"In my game!" She almost yelled, drawing in a few looks causing her to drop her hands and once more try to shrink into herself. "Just…in my game. A guy I know there asked me to go adventuring with him tonight."

"Oh, I see." Charley slumped, taking a disinterested look in her yoghurt pot before declaring it empty by throwing it with stunning accuracy into the nearest bin.

"Sorry." Tanya mumbled, averting her gaze.

Sighing and inwardly cursing herself for forgetting how sensitive her friend was, Charley proceeded to pick up her unused tea spoon and lean across the table before delivering a light tap to her friend's head.

"Nah, I'm the one who's sorry." Charley watched as Tanya confronted her with unintentional puppy dog eyes, confused unintentional puppy dog eyes, but puppy dog eyes none-the-less. "After all," she grinned. "I'm not the one who's going to be hanging around with a big, fat, smelly, 40 year old dirty perv!"

Eyes widening, Tanya pushed herself up in readiness to retaliate.

"Ca…" Catching herself, she dropped back down to her seat and lowered the volume of her voice. "Cait is not a 40 year old perv…" She almost mumbled.

Smirking, Charley also sat back down, thoroughly enjoying the bout of teasing.

"I mean, I know you're always worrying about how 'plain' you are, but a lot of guys really do go in for the whole skinny, geeky, look. I mean, that little pout of yours and the glasses…"

"But I don't look anything like that in the game!" Tanya protested, wrapping her arms around herself protectively.

"And how do you know he looks anything like _he_ does, hm?"

Watching Tanya struggle for a response, Charley decided to show mercy and stop punishing her friend.

"Relax, I'm only teasing." She assured. "I'm sure he's really a moderately okay guy with less of a social life than you."

"Charely…" Tanya whined.

"I know, I know. But if you didn't keep spending all your time playing that game I wouldn't feel the need to tease you so much."

"Sorry." Tanya resumed her cowering turtle act.

"Enough with the sorry." The dark haired cheerleader scolded. "You'll just have to make it up to me when we _do_ go and hang out, k?"

"Okay." The scrawny geek smiled.

"Good. So you'll be buying me all the apple juice I want when I come to loiter at Joe's tonight."

"Charely!" Tanya almost shouted again, allowing her friend to smirk broadly.

---

Clad in a pink frilly apron, embossed with a simple yellow chick on the front pouch, Vincent whistled to himself as he sliced potatoes, occasionally breaking into either the words of the song or doing a poor vocal imitation of the instruments involved. Tipping the slices of vegetable into his large cooking pot, he refrained from moving as a head suddenly planted itself on his shoulder.

"Oooh, good. Soup." The head's tired voice groaned happily. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to chew much tonight."

"Long day Auntie Lisa?" The teenager asked as his Aunt drew back, slouching over to the kitchen table and taking a seat with a tired sigh, kicking off her shoes in a lazy fashion as soon as she was seated.

"Click kettle on would you?" She asked, enough of a response to answer Vincent's question.

Preparing a cup and the coffee grains, he quickly returned to his cooking, proceeding to slice up the available leaks while waiting for the kettle to boil.

"Did you manage to get Thursday off?" He asked.

"Not quite. They wouldn't give me time off but the did let me swap with one of the night shifts."

"Ah, the girls'll be happy that you'll get to see their play." Vincent poured the boiling water into the mug, presenting it to his Aunt.

"Thanks dear." She accepted, running one hand through her relatively short black hair before taking a sip. "But I won't be back until late, so you'll have to get them to bed and read them their story."

"Of course." The teen nodded.

Leaning back in her chair Lisa tried to savour the peace of the kitchen, was which was suddenly shattered as a pair of young girls, the eldest no older than 8 and the other the younger than 5, tore into the room, tackling their mother who had just enough time to set down her coffee mug before welcoming her children into her arms, finding herself barraged with details of their day at school. Catching the tired smile his Aunt gave her daughters, Vincent could only smile back and give her a shrug. Not much could be done to stop the two girls once they got going.

Returning his eyes to the vegetables before him, leeks now, Vincent let his mind stray to the game. The meeting hadn't solved much, but it had at least forced the question into existence. He hoped the matter would be resolved soon, with all their work coming together soon having distractions and unresolved disagreements would only get in their way.

---

Admittedly Tanya had come to find the goggle wearing child she referred to with supposed affection as 'Bobby' somewhat more tolerable than she had first surmised during the times she had played with him while searching for Cait, but this did not mean that she was keen on having his company forced upon her

"I'm sorry honey," Her mother apologised. "But Ms Bradford has been trying to secure a deal on those new apartments since they started building and she said she needs me there to help tonight."

"It's okay Mom." Tanya reassured her parent, clearly miffed, but able to accept it.

"Thanks honey." Mrs Mills leaned in and kissed her daughter on the forehead before pulling her coat on.

"Bobby, you behave okay?" Ms Bradford cautioned her son before giving him a similar kiss and following her subordinate to the door. And with calls of take care, love you, and all their ilk the two women left, leaving Tanya to sigh at her predicament.

Swaying on his heels and with his hands clutched behind his back, Bobby proceeded to present Tanya with the best 'innocent' smile he could muster.

"So…Tanny…" The girl twitched at the karmic force of the nickname, the boy being just observant enough to catch it and correct himself. "I mean Tanya, I don't suppose you would be willing to…y'know…"

"I'll get the connection cables." She sighed.

---

With the rings of binary flashing around them, Dainya and the Digital Kaiser Sephiroth, aka, Sephy, came into existence. Counting down in her head Dainya braced herself.

'3…2…1…'

"DAINYA!"

With a 'whoof', Dainya found herself blasted off of her feet as Lupmon delivered her customary welcome, slobbering all over the girl and causing Sephy to laugh.

"Man, that just doesn't get o-uff!"

A red blur suddenly crashed into the goggle wearing fan boy forcing him to the ground, his screams of protest ignored by the red lizard Digimon. Pausing, Komodomon looked over at his follower and beamed with his large, sharp teeth.

"You're right, this is a good way to greet people. Good work follower."

"Thanks Aniki!" Lupmon beamed before finally relenting and allowing Dainya to push her off and get up.

"Yo, Dainya."

A little more startled than she should have been, what with his partner currently giving Sephy a tongue bath, Dainya turned to see Cait, accompanied by a rather worried looking Bulletmon. Returning the smile he gave, Dainya waved in greeting, Lupmon running out from her side and looping behind the cloaked adventurer and following Bulletmon as the gun totting virus attempted to pull Komodomon off his partner, yanking unsuccessfully at the lizard's tail, Lupmon laughing and cheering on her Aniki as Sephy called to his partner for help.

"Should I be intervening in that?" Cait asked, pointing to the veritable srummage on the ground, the noise the four were making, especially now that Lupmon had made something of a dog-pile of it by leaping atop Bulletmon, was drawing in a few stares from passing players.

"Yeah, I think you'd better." Dainya suggested, growing uncomfortable with the attention they were receiving.

"C'mon Komodomon." The adventurer prepared to push back his cloak and try and forcibly dislodge his partner.

"I'd love to…really." Komodomon replied, tipping his tail to indicate the two bodies on top. "But they are a just a teensy bit heavy."

Indeed, Komodomon's game had backfired on him as he was now pinned down by the wait of the armoured Bulletmon who in turn was pinned by Lupmon, the wolf sitting happily at the top beaming with her doggy smile.

"I'm the Queen of the castle!" She sang.

Taking shy looks at the players who had now stopped to stare, and in most cases laugh to some degree, causing her to give Cait a nervous smile, preparing to apologise, but was cut off by the adventurer.

"Sorry." He supplied her with his own slightly embarrassed smile. "Komodomon can get a bit carried away sometimes."

"I…it's okay" Dianya responded, a little surprised. "Sorry that Lupmon is so…"

"Incorrigible?" The cloaked adventurer provided with a smile.

"Would someone get them off meeeee!" Sephy wailed in frustration at his position, just causing Komodomon to smirk as Cait sighed and Dainya flushed red in embarrassment as even more people began to stare and laugh.

---

The barbershop quartet were in full warble, accompanied by the slightly out of tune twangs of the piano as the group sat in Gekomon's bar. After convincing Lupmon that the trio beneath her did not make for a very good castle, Dainya had suggested finding a place where they at least couldn't hear everyone snickering at them, and so Cait proposed the little bar Dainya had visited the day before. They had been lucky and managed to secure a table towards the centre of the bar as the corner ones had been taken up by those seeking to be more dramatic. Partners sat by partners, though Lupmon had been sure to sit by her aniki, while Sephy had opted to sit across from the red lizard in order to be able to glare at him.

"How can you stand this place…" Sephy moaned, barely a step away from flapping his hands over his ears.

"I have a thing for mon with moustaches and the wild west." Cait grinned at the kid.

"I'm just in it for the moustaches." Komodomon chipped in.

"I must admit, the décor and motif do strike a certain cord with me…" Bulletmon chipped in, the draw for him probably stemming from his revolver swinging champion form.

"Bulletmon, you're not meant to be siding with them." Sephy whined at his partner.

"Sorry Kaiser…" The gun wielder bowed his head.

Sighing at Bulletmon's subservience, Dainya then remembered that while she had enlisted Sephy in helping to look for Cait, she hand never actually told him who she had been looking for, and the cloaked adventurer no clue as to who her goggle wearing charge was, a realisation that caused her to burst out with a large 'Oh!' catching the attention of those around her.

"I haven't introduced you all yet." Looking to Cait and Komodomon she gestured across to the younger boy and his partner. "Cait, Komodomon, this is B…Sephy and Bulletmon."

"Kaiser…" Sephy murmured, casting his eyes over Cait's smiling form.

"Sephy, Bulletmon." Dainya switched emphasis as she gestured to the adventurers and looked to the younger boy. "This is Cait and Komodomon, they're the adventurers who helped me when I first got here."

"Charmed." Cait offered the boy his hand to shake, but simple received an irritated 'humpf' in return that made Dainya scowl. She, and apparently Komodomon if the way he bore his teeth was any indication, was about to scold the boy for his rudeness but their moment was cut as Bulletmon pushed himself up and leaned over to table, accepting Cait's hand and shaking it in a very formal fashion.

"Indeed." The small virus agreed. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Keeping a smile on his face, Cait focused his attention on Bulletmon. While she was glad that Bulletmon had kept up his usual level of good manners, Dainya couldn't help but give a concerned, and aggravated look in Sephy's direction. The kid may be ill mannered, but she couldn't get why he would be mad at Cait, and his lack of mouthing off was just odd.

Looking across to the adventurer in question, Dainya mentally sighed. She had been looking forward to just hanging out with him again like on the first night, she really didn't want Sephy tagging along and bugging the hell out of them.

"So does anyone have any ideas on where they want to go?" Cait suddenly asked, snapping Dainya from her reprieve.

"Huh? You mean you haven't got some place in mind?" She looked a little bewildered.

"Even great adventures run out of juicy rumours once in awhile." Komodomon shrugged.

"Aw, did the shops not have any more?" Lupmon patted Komodomon's shoulder in symathy.

"No Lupmon rumours…I…No, they didn't." Komodomon relented, helpless against the sappy puppy eyes his follower wore as he patted her on the head, the wolf beaming instinctively at the affectionate gesture.

"So basically you've run out of places to blunder around in?" Sephy asked in a dry tone.

"Sephy!" Dainya began to scold, but before she could begin a proper rant Cait spoke up.

"Indeed." He gave a smile, which while it wasn't any kind of cruel, did give the adventurer a somewhat more dangerous look that made Sephy shrink back in his seat a little. "I appear to be a bull without a china shop." Looking over to Dainya, his smile softened back into its usual warmth. "But I do know a rather interesting place which may be nice to visit. There's a bit of a walk involved, but it's certainly worthwhile."

Nodding in agreement, Dainya smiled back at Cait.

"If you say so Cait."

"Is it a good place?" Lupmon looked up at her Aniki who was still stuck patting her head.

"Oh yeah!" The lizard returned, taking advantage of Lupmon's distraction to retrieve his hand as he began to gesture as he spoke. "It's incredibly beautiful. Sun, sea, flowers!"

"It's a treasure all of its own!" Cait finished.

"Wow…" Lupmon gazed off into space, a dreamy look in her eyes.

"You make it sound lovely." Bulletmon nodded.

With a huff, Sephy pushed back his chair and began heading towards the door.

"Well if we're going lets go then." He called back, restrained, but obviously bothered.

"Think I went a little overboard?" Komodomon leaned in and asked his partner, who looked over to Dainya who shrugged in return.

Rising, they followed the goggle wearer out, finding him waiting beyond the door with no clue as to where to go, forcing him to allow Cait to take the lead, the group heading off to the south, Dainya sure that Sephy would get out of his funk soon, while Lupmon continued to try and drag details from her aniki who remained effectively quiet on the matter.

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**Raven: **Funny thing about last week. For some reason, I ended up blocking Keyo on my instant messenger and never realized it. So we both thought that the other person had been gone for the entire week. Yeah.

So, Cecil Jones eh? He's like Bobby, only older, smarter, and with Pocky. Same great "I'm always right" attitude, brand new look. Speaking of which, Bobby himself returns! And he manages to ruin the evening without really trying.

Surprisingly, Keyo and I have been spending more work this week discussing a section much farther into the story than where we are now. Man, I can't wait until this thing starts picking up…

**Keyo: **I really enjoyed writing this chapter, for a few reasons. The first is probably that I go to use Cecil, Vincent and Sephy again, and the second is that Cecil gets to act like House or Dr Cox. We got a good bit of character development, which is damn lovely. I think my writing is coming along a lot, as I'm getting fewer errors back from Eight each time and my chapters seem a bit…fuller.

Also, Plot ho everyone! We got a few hints in this one and a bit will be punching us in the face hopefully in the next one.

As a warning, Chapter 16 may be a bit late as I'll be in Ireland for a few days and won't be back until Saturday, and I may wind up staying longer. So sit tight.


	15. Chapter 15

**Keyo-Red Angel of Hope: **I'm back from Ireland! Follow the rainbow to the notes at the end, where you will also find that I don't own Digimon, but I do own my fancast!

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Chapter 15: Nightmare On Line!

The Soldiers' Feint!

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Dark clouds hung in the sky as the group made their way through the barren, blue wasteland, white storms of data whipped up in places as the progressed. The progress they made was often hindered by the occasional patrol of dangerous Digimon, the most dangerous being overly aggressive Frigimon which were easily overpowered when solitary, and equally easy to evade when in larger numbers, although that did require spending time convincing Sephy that discretion was the better part of valor and that he and Bulletmon couldn't take them on their own.

The whole journey, however, had been filled with Sephy being more intolerably irritating and bratty than usual, fixated upon Cait. Every time Cait had to pause to check his bearings Sephy questioned him and taunted him, each time Cait spoke in favor of avoiding a battle the boy would dub him a coward and endeavor to show him up. It was a strain upon everyone's patience, and it was remarkable that the adventurer was yet to snap, but he was clearly becoming more and more frustrated with the goggle wearing fan-boy as he often left arguments with the boy nursing his forehead and often outright ignoring him as he tried to navigate the wastes.

"I'm telling you he's got no idea where's he's goin'." Sephy grumbled again as Cait surveyed the ridges, ravines and plains before them. From where she stood, Dainya had a good profile view of the adventurer, including the twitch of his eyebrow as the comment reached his ears. "This place isn't any kind of treasure! It's sucky! It doesn't even have those dumb flowers!"

With a sigh Cait rose, pushing his cloak back as he did, though it promptly fell back into place, and turned to Dainya. "It's just through that tunnel." He told her, looking and sounding far tenser than she had seen before, and she could only give him an apologetic smile in return.

"I don't see a tunnel." Sephy complained, peering out over the uniform colour of the landscape.

"Maybe you need to change the prescription in your goggles…" Cait murmured.

"What was that?" The boy snapped.

"Nothing, nothing." Cait brushed off as he began to walk down towards a dip in the terrain.

"You said something, admit it!" Sephy cried, running off in pursuit.

Sighing loudly, Tanya began to follow, Bulletmon walking along side her casting, what looked like, an apologetic look.

"Kaiser is not normally like this, I must apologize for his actions. I don't know what has him so…ruffled." The virus bowed his head.

"Ruffled is one way of putting it." Komodomon rolled his eyes as he caught up, Lupmon following along behind him, her tail wagging, happy in her ignorance of the tensions in the group.

"Does that mean he needs grooming?" Lupmon piped up, claw tapping thoughtfully at her chin.

A sly grin spread along Komodomon's face in a manner that sent a worrying chill through Dainya and Bulletmon as the red lizard turned to his follower.

"Yeah Lupy." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "That's exactly what he needs. Why don't you go and clean him up a bit?" Nodding enthusiastically, Lupmon raced off and tackled Sephy, licking him furiously in order to clean him up and try and smooth out the wild spikes of his hair, draw forth fresh cries of indignation from the boy as he tried with varying levels of failure to remove the wolf from his avatar.

---

Storming ahead through the labyrinth like tunnel, Sephy muttered about matters regarding dumb cats and dogs as Bulletmon tottered along behind him, staying silently by his partner. With her own partner just before her, the wolf still beaming from the praise she received from her aniki, which over-road her bemusement of Sephy's lack of appreciation for her efforts to groom him.

"I'm sorry about Sephy." Dainya kept her head down, which didn't really help the mood Cait had worked himself into. Running his hand over his forehead and back through his hair he let out a sigh in an effort to calm himself a little.

"Don't be. It's not your fault he's a little pain in the neck." Cait responded.

"But it is my fault he's here." Dainya returned.

"I was kinda wondering why you brought him along. Is he your little brother?" Cait let his eyes pass to Sephy for a moment, calling out and telling him to take a left and receiving the same disgruntled murmuring he had given all the other directional changes before taking the turn.

"Ew! No!" Dainya exclaimed. "I'm just babysitting him while our Mom's are away at some business meeting dealie." She explained vaguely, with much handwaving.

"Hm. I didn't know you baby sat." Cait tapped at his chin. "Actually, I don't really know anything about you."

"Heh, we kinda spent all our time talking about Digimon, huh?" Dainya chuckled in an embarrassed fashion, feeling a little better as the conversation turned from her charge. "So how about you? Any brother's or sisters?"

"Hey, how can I be sure you're not secretly a 40 year old pervert with malicious intentions?" The adventurer smirked, causing Dainya to wince internally. "Don't worry, I know you're not."

"Huh?"

"You're far too honest." He smiled. "No, I don't have any siblings, my Mum got real sick when I was born and she just never got better."

"Oh, I'm s…" Dainya began, her head dropping down again.

"Don't worry. She died a long time ago." Cait assured her, blocking her apology. "How about your family?"

"Only child." Dainya looked back up. "My Mom works long shifts at a mortgage firm and my Dad's in the army, so he's away a lot. My parents didn't think they'd have time to give to more than one kid."

"So aside from Digimon, what do you do? Without breaking 'netiquette' and revealing your secret identity to me."

With a chuckle, Dainya prepared to tell the adventurer a few things but was interrupted when Sephy suddenly called down.

"Hey guys! I think we're at the end of this stupid tunnel."

There was no need to shield their eyes against the light, as it had been a constant stream since they entered, illuminating the bright blue walls of the shaft, as they breached the horizon, emerging on an alcove on what appeared to be the side of a mountain. Dainya joined Sephy in allowing her jaw to drop at the view before them.

"Oh wow." Dainya gaped as Sephy struggled for words, making 'goping' sounds before giving up and just letting his jaw hang.

The entire area was filled with lush grass and scattered clumps of wild flowers of all different colours and shapes, from single splashes of bright primary colours to intricate patters which implied a tactical use of chaos theory. A few trees stood around, bearing bright fruit or flowers and one bore shiny wind instruments that released a soft melody as the breeze blew through, it's long shadow stretching out towards the center of the 'garden'. The sky too, was amazing, a shining sky blue, rather than the harsh acrylic colour of the wasteland, but the dark clouds swirled around the patch of blue, as if they were in the eye of the storm, an image further supplemented by the sight of the sun hanging upon high, casting light straight down upon the area. Before them the wasteland stretched out from the alcove's ledge bleeding into the lush woods of the I/O Forest and the green plains around Root Town spreading out into the surrounding countryside and even the amber sands and white glare of Archive Valley and Fragment Desert were visible.

"That was kinda my reaction when we first found it." Cait's face was trapped in a giant smile, the beauty of the green space having soothed his mood. "Kinda feels like a little patch of heaven eh?"

"Especially after putting up with that blue space of death…" Komodomon added, glancing back at the tunnel.

"Wooooooooooow." Lupmon's jaw opened further as she dragged on. "It's so pretty-ful Aniki!" She darted forward suddenly, throwing herself into a forward roll and landing amongst a patch of flowers that sighed as she passed through them. Giggling madly she took a long, noisy sniff at one of them before breaking into a fresh bout of giggles.

"So what do you think kid?" Komodomon turned to Sephy, a superior smirk on his face.

Sephy looked startled as the lizard broke him from his trance, and quickly regained his composure before scratching at his jaw line and trying to put together the best nonchalant response he could. "It's okay…I-I suppose." He almost stammered, before snapping. "And I'm not a 'kid'!" He then turned his back to the red Digimon.

"Sure, sure." The lizard sighed. "Brattykidsayswhat." He mumbled to himself.

"What?" Sephy snapped again, whirling around to face Komodomon, who was now snickering. "What's so funny?" The lizard responded with a small 'snort' before resuming snickering intermixed with chuckling.

"I cannot believe you fell for that Kaiser…" Bulletmon sighed.

"Fell for what? Tell me Bulletmon!" Sephy insisted facing his partner before whipping back to Komodomon as he snorted again. "What?" He yelled, drawing another snort.

Bulletmon sighed in despair as Sephy kept crying 'what' causing Komodomon to snort and snicker, chucker and laugh more with each use of the word.

"He's easily amused." Dainya couldn't help but have her attention drawn to the pair.

"And he's very gullible." Cait smiled at the scene, watching as Bulletmon began to shake his head at his partner's inability to realize the trick being played on him.

"All stupid."

The new voice caught Dainya and Cait's attention as they cast their gaze around, Cait being the first to turn and look up, and when he did not turn back, Dainya followed his gaze.

On a ledge some distance up from the tunnel exit a figure sat cross-legged, near enough to be seen well, especially the remarkable features of his long black mane and the string of giant teeth around his neck. Straightening his legs, the player placed on hand upon the ground and pushed himself into a crouch before standing, looking down on them all with the look of a disgruntled lion. And anyone who has encountered a disgruntled lion will tell you that it's a very dangerous thing. Swinging one arm out, he pointed straight at Dainya.

"You big problem." He cried. "We fix. Decide how we choose."

"We? Choose?" Dainya looked on bewildred, the attentions of the others had been captured now as Komodomon, Sephy, and Bulletmon too looked up, the former looking shocked while the others looked even more confused than Dainya, Lupmon too was paying attention, her pupils dilated as she growled up at the player.

"Strabimon!" The player suddenly cried, lashing his arm out over the alcove, prompting his partner to attack.

Scattering leaves, a pastel purple Digimon exploded from the instrument bearing tree, jarring the soft music and throwing the gentle melody into discord as the Digimon cried out in mid air with a harsh voice, the noise snatching Lupmon's attention.

"Licht Stab!"

A burst of light escaped the Digimon, Lupmon only just being able to shift out of the way as the attack decimated the flowers and ground as it passed, her opponent's decent bringing him in to tackle her, the force throwing the wolf back as the two began to wrestle. With a feral cry, Lupmon threw her opponent off and causing them to tumble at through the border of the flower patch before rushing forward, her adversary doing the same as the two met, clawing and slashing at one another.

**Strabimon **

**Level: Rookie **

**Type: Vaccine **

**Attacks: **Licht Nagel, Licht Bein, Licht Stab

"Nifty." Sephy tucked his digivice back onto his belt.

The Digimon itself stood almost as tall as its partner, shorter maybe by half a head. While it bore a definite human shape, it also held a resemblance to a wolf with sleek purple fur and short sharp ears and a pointed face with sharp eyes, a tattered scarf bound around its neck. Short black belts were wrapped around its forearms that ended in sharp dark purple claws, its hands masked by black gloves. Baggy white trousers adorned its legs with more black belts upon the waist, around the knees, and binding its feet, long purple claws protruding from the end. Unlike Lupmon, who's method of fighting was wild and erratic, Strabimon's was disciplined and precise, as if he was a practitioner of a martial art. He reminded Dainya very much of Renamon in Tamers, and as he drove the near feral Lupmon into a tree, the comparison became more apparent as she remembered the fight between the fox and Guilmon.

"Stop this!" Cait cried, his eyes locking with those of the wild player, his voice set in a harsh tone that temporarily snatched all but the battling Digimon and Komodomon's attention. The tone was similar to the one he had used when pushed by Sephy, but much worse. "You have no right to do this!"

"Decide. Eight Ball said to test. Short time."

"Eight Ball?" Tanya reeled, her eyes staying on the wild figure for a few moments before she looked back to where Lupmon was struggling against Strabimon, fear entering her. If this was an ally of Eight's he was bound to be dangerous, and she and Lupmon had only ever defeated Eight and his allies with help.

"Komodomon!" Cait barked, prompting his partner while keeping his eyes on the player, the red lizard keeping quiet while shooting forward.

Strabimon was able to see him coming, spinning and lashing out with a kick while bringing his claws around, the sharp appendages glowing as he tried to rip into Komodomon.

"Licht Nagel!" Strabimon cried, his claws glowing white as he made the strike, his eyes widening as the lizard's large claws raised straight up in a block, catching the arm at the wrist, negating the attack before lashing out with his free claw to deliver a straight blow to the chest of the wolf, sending him flying back.

"Long shot!" Bulletmon unleashed a barrage with both arms, stray shots ripping into the ground and trees, causing Cait to snap at him.

"Be careful! This place doesn't regenerate as normal!" The adventurer cried.

"My apologies, Mr Cait." Bulletmon replied, his eyes widening in worry.

Looking up, Strabimon found himself virtually surrounded. A growling Lupmon to his right, Komodomon before him, and circling on his left was Bulletmon, who had swapped to his favored method of supporting one arm for accuracy, the gun barrel pinned on Strabimon's chest. Unlike Lupmon, this wolf remained calm and composed, adopting a slightly odd fighting stance, crouched with the right arm crossing over his body to hang by his left hip, while the left was tucked around his back at waist height.

"That looks a little familiar…" Tanya mumbled, Sephy nodding in agreement while Cait cussed as he watched the player press a glowing hand to the digivice dangling from his wrist, the frigid white light flowing into the small machine before an identical one suddenly enveloped Strabimon.

"Strabimon digivolve to…"

Seeing the light, Dainya began to command Lupmon's own digivolution, the blue light appearing around her hand, Cait and Sephy's own red and green lights appearing, but too slow to be of any good.

"LOBOMON!"

The light hadn't even faded before Lobomon moved, Strabimon's pose before evolution had left him with his hands in place to draw his swords, metal hilts that released blades of white light, lashing out with an aijutsu draw, cutting into Komodomon faster than he could block, with a growl Lupmon charged forward wit her claws raised while Bulletmon opened fire.

"Primal Claw!"

"Long Shot!"

Quickly shifting to a side stance, the white armoured warrior divided his attention between the two attacks.

"Licht Sieger!" He cried in time with the two rookies, one blade darting in a manner more similar to western fencing as it deflected Bulletmon's shots while the other swept in a side-long arc, meeting Lupmon's clawed attack and buffeting her back before he raced forward, leaving Bulletmon's target area and releasing combination attacks on the wolf, Sephy, however, took the chance and pushed his glowing hand up to his digivice, sending a flow of power into his partner.

"Bulletmon Digivolve to…DESPERAMON!"

Lobomon turned, ready to intercept the new attack as Desperamon linked his metal arm into the gun barrel, whipping it up and unleashing his attack.

"Star Revolver!"

Unlike the bursts from his 'Long Shot' the Star Revolver carried a large amount of force, and while Lobomon was able to cross his blades in defense, the bullet exploding causing the light warrior to fall back and trip over Lupmon, who was now encased in a bright blue glow.

"Lupmon digivolve to…LYKIOMON!"

Lobomon had enough time to register the new form of the wolf before him before Lykiomon's jaws opened wide and she let loose a great howl, her 'Raksha's Cry' attack, the wind stirring the earth and propelling the swordsman into one of the trees, causing fruit to fall. Growling, Lyikomon in preparation to use her Spiral Fang attack, restrained when Komodomon gripped the fur one of her hind legs.

"Rrrrrranni-ki." Lykiomon growled, the slits of her eyes widening a little as her body relaxed.

"Calm down Lupy. We don't wanna bust this place up remember?"

Although her current form left her over twice Komodomon's height, the lizard's voice held sway over her and she eased out of her attack stance, her eyes, however, remained focus upon Lobomon, a click signified that Desperamon had readied a follow up attack.

"Leave. Now." Cait growled at the player, who only smirked in return.

"This order?" The player's smirk widened as he leered down at Cait, causing the adventurer to tense up and cast a worried look to Tanya.

A tense feeling filled the air around Cait, and it made Tanya feel uncomfortable. She had seen Cait when facing down DarkTyrannomon and the PKs, he had been worried, but now he was rattled, and looked panicky. Something about this tooth wearing man had unsettled him, and she had watched enough animes to know that if one of the good guys is looking scared when they're winning, it's a really bad sign. She caught sight of Cait's glowing hand as it twitched, like a gunman in the old western movies when they're in a shoot out, swallowing a thick chunk of nothing, she decided to try and see if she could get any information from this player, and maybe ease whatever pressure was weighing down on Cait.

She was very glad that knocking knees didn't seem to be one of the features of the avatar.

"E-ec-excuse me." She cussed herself for stuttering, Cait may have been twitching but at least he was coherent. She took a moment to suck in her breath to steady herself, reassuring herself that this world wasn't real, and that she had no reason to be nervous. She didn't so much as try and think of why Cait was spooked. "Why am I a problem, I mean, I've never…what do you have to decide?"

'And what,' she wondered, 'did Eight have to do with it?'

A long grin spread across the players face, and Cait's eyes darted across to Lobomon, who shared the same expression. A nonsensical bubble of sounds leapt from Cait's mouth, catching and distorting himself mid swear before carrying on.

"He's not alone!" He whipped his glowing hand up and pulled his digivice from his cloak, bringing the two together, amplifying the light and causing a red burst to appear around his partner just as the shadow of the musical tree stretched out, racing towards the group of Digimon, a familiar enough motif to cause Dainya to cry out in warning, moments behind Komodomon as he cried out his evolution.

"Komodomon digivolve to…"

"LYKIOMON!"

"DRAKEMON!"

The flare of light from Komodomon's evolution pushed back the approaching darkness, as if it were a wall rising from nowhere, the shadows coiling back away from it before twisting and pushing forward again as it faded to reveal the large winged dragon.

It was then that Lykiomon, spurred by Dainya's cry, noticed the shadow, and recognised it as a sign of a familiar enemy. The soothing effect Komodomon had been able to bestow upon his follower vanished as her eyes snapped into slits again and with a feral wail, she leapt at the patch of darkness, claws outstretched as she attempted to rend the foe that had escaped her in the past, startling Drakemon. Crashing into the ground, her claws tore at it before howling in frustration as black arms grew from the shadow and began to bind and pin the large wolf. As Drakemon instinctively moved to help, the actions caused Desperamon to turn his head, removing his one eye from Lobomon for enough of an instant to allow the sword wielding champion to spring back up, grabbing his hilts and igniting the blades and rushing the gun wielder. Desperamon's attention snapped back, and he unleashed his Star Revolver, Lobomon had been too fast though, and was able to neatly push the large gun barrel aside, lunging with the second blade. Desperamon was no slouch either, and sliding his back foot around was able to avoid the thrust, his right arm swinging to his hip, instinct directing him to take advantage of the close distance and he seized the small revolver that sat there.

"Quick Draw!" He cried, the 'bang' noise of the erupting gunpowder coming around 'i', successive shots concealing the rest of the attack name. The strategy was ineffective, the bullets passing through Lobomon's obscenely long scarf as he too performed a side step. Dancing around one another, they attempted to achieve the range required to unleash an attack capable of ending their foe, while struggling to keep the other outside of their effective zones, Sephy fanatically cheering his partner on with a variety of ineffective suggestions and efforts at wit.

In the time this was happening Lykiomon had continued thrashing in her bonds, a sudden burst of flame licked past her, but the shadows were undisturbed, so Drakemon went for his preferred physical route and slashed along the skinny pitch coloured arms with his large claws, hacking into them as Lykiomon continued to tear away herself, lashing out with claws and teeth while straining away constantly, when the shadow's grip had loosened enough her body suddenly sprung forward in a rapid rotation as her voice cried out in a surprisingly clear manner.

"Spiral Fang!" Her claws, teeth and even fur tore away at the restraining arms as she brust free, skidding a little as she exited her attack and turned to face the patch of shadow, which began to congeal and rise, forming a tall, obsidian figure. Large bat like wings spreading open, the demonic figure straightened and revealed the human partner it had been masking.

"I know, I know." Eight smiled, putting up his hands as if trying to calm a crowd unleashing a tide of curious questions. "How _do_ I keep making these stunning, unexpected, dramatic entrances? It's not easy, but I am a genius. Thank you, thank you." With sweeping bows, he received the nonexistent applause before straightening and cast a broad smile in the direction of his opposition. Lykiomon's growling filled the air, the almost feral wolf restrained only by the unpredictable air that accompanied Eight and Eclispemon, even Lobomon and Desperamon stopped their conflict for a few moments, settling for a temporary stalemate with Star Revolver and Light Kugel aimed at one another's head's.

"Why are you here Eight?" Cait almost growled, his eyes locked with the trench coat clad figure who only smirked in return, entirely unfazed by Cait's harsh tone and looks. Wagging his finger, the hacker took on the tone of a parent scolding a child.

"Tut, tut, tut Kitty Cat…I would have thought that would have been more than obvious. I'm here to adjudicate and make sure that Mowgli's decision is entirely his own." He gestured to the wild player who nodded in return. "We can't be unfair, after all, can we?"

Although the vague statement continued to make as much sense as a six piece harmonica orchestra manned by a sandwich, a pelican, and four gophers performing the Star Wars theme to an audience of Swedish cheeses and a Dutch frog to the majority of those gathered, it didn't escape Dainya's attention that it only made Cait and Drakemon increase the intensity of their Clint Eastwood impressions, though Cait shook off a guilty look.

"That's…you're just…"

"Th…th…that…you're…" Eight mocked before raising one hand in the air. "Lighten up Kitty Cat." Sliding his eyes along the group, he swung his arm down to point at Sephy, almost making the boy jump. "I think we'll play with you Goggle Boy."

The wild player, now identified as Mowgli, gave a nod in Eight's direction, which he returned, before everything once more exploded into motion.

Lobomon dropped down, startling Desperamon, before lashing out with a vicious kick from his crouched position, knocking the gun wielder back. As soon as he had moved Lykiomon had sprung forward, whipping herself into a spin and crying 'Spiral Fang' as she lunged for Eclipsemon, who flapped his great obsidian wings and flew back just as Lobomon launched himself forward, using Desperamon as a kind of launch pad and propelled himself towards Lykiomon, his swords swinging up as he passed by Eclipsemon and rising in a cross guard as he collided with Lykiomon, sparks flying as she pressed against his blades, forcing him back to the ground as he struggled to keep her back. In moments that felt longer than they were, the rotation lost momentum and Lykiomon was forced to drop back to all fours, snarling at this new foe who mocked her, spinning his blades around in a few fanciful motions before titling his fingers in the 'come on' motion, prompting her to lung again.

"Lykiomon…." Dainya uttered, feeling at a loss as her partner became more feral. Looking around she saw that Desperamon was unleashing shots at an elusive Eclipsemon with Sephy watching, caught somewhere between euphoria and confusion, Drakemon stood unsure of who to help and Cait gave him no direction, he was simply glaring at Eight.

"Stop this. Now." His tone was not calm, but he did not shout. It was an order, pure and simple and it sounded as though he fully expected it to be obeyed, and while it seemed to make Mowgli flinch, it only made Eight's smile heartier.

"You can't pull rank on me Kitty Cat." He wagged his finger. "Why don't you just play nice like all the other children?"

A 'yelp' pierced the air as Lobomon danced around Lykiomon, his blades slicing into her haunches, causing the large wolf to drop for a moment. Shooting his partner an impatient look, Drakemon took off as Cait immediately gave him a nod of confirmation.

"Fine, have it your way."

"It was always going to be my way."

Green flames lanced from the sky, obstructing Drakemon's path as he was forced to wheel around in the sky to avoid the new barrage. Pushing the thick black clouds outward, a new Digimon appeared in the sky, racing down towards the battlefield, green flames erupting from its mouth in staccato bursts as it prevented Drakemon from providing any interference in the other battles. Once in range, it tried to tackle the red dragon who caught the beat in his claws and forced the two to crash and tumble across the ground and off the ledge, before separating and flying into the sky once more, unleashing bursts of flame at one another in a dog fight.

"After all," Eight lifted his arms out from beneath the trench coat, holding them up as if he were being blessed by the heavens. "I am a genius."

Lifting his digivice, Sephy followed his scanning compulsion as the dueling dragons stole his attention from his partner's battle. The newcomer had a resemblance to Drakemon in that it was a bipedal dragon, though this one was green, its forearms ending in three opposable claws tipped red, small spikes ran along its back and tail and its face was narrower, a single blade like red horn growing just above the end of its snout. Its body was lean and its underbelly was a pale creamy colour, its ribcage pronounced, pointing up as a small ridge in the center of its chest. 

**Coredramon **

**Level: Champion **

**Type: Virus**

**Attacks: **Green Flare Breath, Strike Bomber.

"Beautiful, no?" Eight smiled at him, walking around to stand nearer the boy. "They're very rare and it took me along time to find one to use as my minion. But right now I'm far more interested in you Goggle Boy."

"Me?" Sephy blinked for a moment. "Well of course you are, I'm the strongest here!"

Eight chuckled to himself a little before continuing.

"I missed your role against Golemmon, and so only have Min's report, but I'm truly fascinated as to how such a Scarecrow could have such an amazing partner." He gestured to Desperamon.

"Wh…whuh?" Sephy babbled.

"Ah, if only you had a brain." Eight taunted, causing Sephy to go red in frustration.

"That's it! Modifier, Power up!" He cried, slashing a red disc through his digivice, his partner taking on a red glow as the collateral damage from the Star Revolver increased, Eclipsemon remaining evasive, the 'crack-foom' of the gun barrel overriding all other noise in the battle as each shot was unleashed, Desperamon's visible eye narrowing in a combination of frustration and focus as his efforts continued to fall short.

"Light Kugel!" Lobomon barked, the small cannon on his wrist unleashing repeated bursts of a pure white light, the attacks were faster than Lykiomon could comprehend, but short of a rise in the pitch of her howling, she didn't seem to care, her spinning form keeping course and forcing the light wielding warrior to once more leap to the side as she tore up the earth from where he once stood, ceasing her rotation and skidding before once more crying out 'Spiral Fang' and lunging for opponent before he had even set down upon the ground. Once more Lobomon was forced to draw his swords, holding them in the cross block as Lykiomon drove him back, Lobomon joining his animalistic counterpart in growling, a low throaty noise as he pushed against the spinning wolf who suddenly stopped, her jaws opening wide.

"Raksha's Cry!"

Light was fast, but sound was no slouch, and where as Lobomon's Light Kuegel was a weapon meant for strikes of surgical, at worst quack doctor, precision, the destructive howl was more like the sonic equivalent of running head first into an oncoming truck. A really big, heavy fast moving truck that made your ears pop. Following the laws of motor accidents, Lobomon was thrown a good few feet through the air, crashing by the musical tree as the force from the attack caused the instruments on the tree to cry out in discord. Groaning, Lobomon pulled himself up in time to see Lykiomon sucking in another breath. Whipping his arm cannon up, he took advantage of his speed and unleashed a Licht Kugel, striking his foe in the head and causing her to yelp, the focus for her attack disturbed allowing the light warrior to snatch up his swords and leap back to his feet, running in an arc as he rattled off more shots with his Licht Kugel, infuriating his bestial opponent who howled, throwing herself into Spiral Fang and rushing at him. Rather than try and block or dodge, Lobomon ran straight on at her, igniting his blades and neatly switched stepped at the last moment, bringing himself alongside Lykiomon.

"Licht Sieger!" He roared, sweeping both blades at his foe as he passed.

Crying out in pain, Lykiomon's rotation stopped as her body seized up and she tumbled across the ground, whining as she lay on the ground before pushing herself up, whimpering as she wobbled up right, her growls now interrupted with panting as she glared at Lobomon, who neatly spun his blades around, his back to her.

"Zwei Sieger." He turned, linking the hilts of his blades together to create a single weapon, giving it another twirl before shifting into a new combat stance, the weapon held out laterally behind him with the other arm stretched out in a ready posture.

**Lobomon**

**Level: Champion**

**Type: Vaccine**

**Attacks:** Licht Sieger, Licht Kugel, Zwei Sieger.

Grumbling, Dainya tucked her digivice away. She already knew a lot about Lobomon, her complete collection of models was a testament to her own fandom, but she was hoping that her digivice could have provided her with some useful information that she had slipped her mind, or that applied only to the game, or something that would help stop the beating Lykiomon was taking now, as Lobomon continued to prevent her from using Raksha's Cry and lashing out with his blades whenever her spiral fang drew near, the only positive now being that Lykiomon knew to dodge it, but had begun to favor keeping away, leaving her at a range where the light warrior could snipe away at her strength without difficulty.

"Green Flare Breath!"

Weaving through the air, Drakemon dodged the bursts of green flame that spewed forth from Coredramon's mouth. While both were capable of breathing fire, Drakemon had a preference for close combat but was having trouble getting the fern green dragon within his reach. As a blue light covered him, he grinned. Pure blood dragon or note, Coredramon was just a puppet and didn't have any back up. With the speed gifted to him by Cait, Drakemon found himself getting closer to his adversary as he weaved around the incoming attacks before pulling one fist back as he made a final rush at Coredramon, filling it with power.

"Impact Claw!" He roared as he charged headlong into the latest stream of green flame, his fist swinging forward once in range to deliver a crushing blow to Coredramon's skull, sending the pure blood spiraling downwards before it righted itself and swooped back up into the air.

"Damnit." Drakemon grunted, panting, obviously damaged from his run through the flames. "Damn, damn, damnity damn damn-whoa!" Letting himself drop, he narrowly avoided the latest push of literal fire power, before riding an updraft and resuming the dog fight, barking out 'Dragon Burn' as he opted to unleash a few attacks of his own, since he was dangerously short on plans.

"You're pretty hopeless, aren't you kid?" Eight chuckled, his superior smirk fixed on the young goggle boy. "I heard your partner was something special, but it seems you're just you're just the wasteful exhaust trailed by a high quality sports machine."

"Oh yeah! Try this then!" Sephy cried, pulling a blue disk from his pocket. "Stat Modifier, Speed Up!"

A blue glow was added to the fading red and when Desperamon next caught Eclipsemon in his view, both his turn and shot were faster than before and the shining bullet easily pieced the daemonic form, which erupted in dark smog, allowing them only a moment of satisfaction before a set of dark arms erupted from Desperamon's shadow, binding him tightly, leaving his arms stretched out.

"That's cheating!" Sephy cried, fingering the hacker.

"That's tactics." He smiled in return. "Didn't you hear about Eclipsemon's little copying trick? When you were waving that disc around, he used his Nightmare Rave and slipped into his shadow, and through to your partner's." He waved out one arm to dramatically return Sephy's view to the Digimon. "And now he has him so neatly tied up with his Shadow Cross." Suddenly Desperamon's shadow stretched out and grew into a copy of Eclipsemon, sans the shining eyes. "And now, we get to take all the time we want."

It was then the Rave started beating on Desperamon. The blows weren't strong, but Desperamon couldn't defend himself, and each blow was steadily adding up damage all the while Sephy growled and cussed at the hacker and his dark partner.

Where the two wolves fought, little was changing. Despite the fact that both players had unleashed speed modifiers the balance in their speed remained the same, leaving the strategic advantage with Lobomon, who like Eclipsemon, was happy to just chip away at his opponent's vitality.

"We're getting nowhere." Dainya muttered under he breath. 'Just losing inch-by-inch'. She began to chew at her hand, trying to stir her thought process and come up with a plan, even one of the wildly impossible variety. She looked to Cait, but the boy was far too focused on his own partner's plight, looking up she could see the flashes of amber and green as the two dragons spat flame at one another, Drakemon occasionally trying to make a rush and strike Coredramon, but this was met with varying levels of success and the two seemed stuck in a stalemate.

It was looking to Desperamon that the much-needed plan sprung to her mind. Lobomon was too fast for her partner to deal with, but Eclipsemon was perfectly still. She would have liked to do some fine-tuning and develop a distraction, but with little else to work with she threw her arms out towards the shadowy Digimon as she called to her partner.

"Lykiomon! Go for Eclipsemon!" She called.

Despite her feral state, Lykiomon responded to the order. Reminded that this foe who had escaped before was here she turned her head towards Dainya as she called out, and then finished the rotation as she followed the directions the girl's body gave her, before digging her claws into the ground and racing off towards them, her growls once more overtaking the sound of her panting before she threw herself in the air.

"Spiral Fang!" She almost roared, her spin digging up the ground as she pushed itself onwards.

"Licht Sieger!" Lobomon howled as he swept in to try and cut off Lykiomon's assault, aiming once more to drag his blades through her side, but his attention is swiftly diverted as he swings his blades to a defensive stance.

While Desperamon couldn't move, his arms were still thrust out from the firing pose he had been in before being grabbed, and Dainya, in all her detail noticing glory, had timed her cry to Lykiomon for when Lobomon would be forced to cross the gun wielder's line of fire. And Desperamon despite the blows he was receiving, hadn't failed to notice either. With a cry of 'Star Revolver' the great bang resounded through their battlefield and sent a shining bullet racing towards Lobomon.

The last time Lobomon had blocked, the blast had knocked him back off his feet, but this bullet was still shimmering red with the energy of the power ups Sephy had spent on his partner, causing the explosion to send Lobomon flying backwards, safely removing him as a threat to Dainya's haphazard plan.

Of course there was a good chance he'd just get mangled, but he doubted Eclipsemon would be able to get away unharmed either. Feeling the arms withdraw as Eight Ball cried out a warning Depseramon quickly snapped around as soon as he could and seized one of the arms pulling as hard as he could. Startled, Eclipsemon's arms stopped withdrawing keeping him in place despite the Rave's effort to dislodge him. Waiting until the last moment, Desperamon released the shadow creature, allowing Lykiomon to tear through the arms, the force of her rotation ripping him from the shadows, and a series of small bangs signaled the destruction of the Rave at the hands of Desperamon's Quick Shot attack.

In the air, Eclipsemon tried to straighten out its wings, attempting to gain flight and try and regain its previous advantage, an effort that collapsed in vain as Desperamon swung his gun barrel up and let cry 'Star Revolver' firing the heavy shell straight into the devil type and causing him to further tumble through the air, Lobomon's efforts to intervene cut off by a Raksha's Cry he couldn't stop which once more sent the warrior flying.

Collapsing on the ground, Eclipsemon raised his head to the sight of Lykiomon's gaping jaws and Desperamon's raised barrel. Fast and versatile he was, durable he was not, and the combined attack would surely finish him.

"End it!" Sephy cried as Lobomon struggled to push himself up.

"Go!" Dainya joined in, so close to really beating Eight.

"Raksha's Cry!" Howled Lykiomon, the force ripping up the ground.

"Star Revolver!" Desperamon let loose three shots, the shining bullets swirling with the storm of Lykiomon's attack.

Sweeping down from the sky, a figure snatched up the prone devil, the attack clipping him and sending the pair skidding, but the dragon's form was able to shield the near death Digimon from deletion, leaving those assembled to stare as Drakemon shakily rose to his feet, unceremoniously dragging Eclipsemon up with him.

"Wha?"

"Buh?"

"Huh?"

"Ruh?"

Were the provided responses, Dainya whirling to look at Cait who still looked very pissed, but was no longer looking up.

"Cait, what…"

"Why thank you Kitty Cat." Eight smiled, looking more smug than ever. "I was actually worried there for a…"

"Shut up." The adventurer snapped, looking up to glare at Eight, but the moment he saw Dainy looking at him he dropped his head back again.

"What did you do to Drakemon?" Dainya turned and yelled at the hacker, whose look only grew more smug and superior, as if he were privately laughing at them all.

"Me? I did nothing." He looked across to the red dragon who was glaring straight at him. "He was just defending his precious ally." Turning his head, he raised an arm as he gestured in his grand dramatic fashion towards Cait. "Isn't that so, Lieutenant-Colonel Cait?"

All eyes turned to Cait who stood with clenched fists, refusing to meet any of the eyes looking at him. Lykiomon confused, Desperamon analysing, Sephy pissed, and looking a little satisfied, and Dainya joining her partner in confusion, but looking sad as she came to understand what was going on.

"You see girlie," Eight threw on a slight nautical air. "I'm the dishonest type, and you always know I'll be dishonest. But honest folk like Kitty Cat, filled with all their good intentions, oh, they're the ones you want to watch."

No one even noticed if he was laughing or not.

**Raven: **We hope you enjoyed this presentation of Keyo kissing up to you for his lack of prescence last week. We ended up squeezing Chapters 15 and 16 into a much larger chapter, which I hope you'll love. And now on to answering Mist.

First of all, the Digivolution lines got ripped apart when we got our hands on it. After all, Prariemon's a Rookie. We choose our Digimon according more to their personality with their partner and their fighting style. Keyo wanted a witch/wizard, so we threw in Witchmon. There wasn't anything that looked more appealing than Demidevimon for Witchmon's rookie. The rest of the Digimon will seem more similar to their other evolutions, whether it is a part of their line or not.

Canis is the genus name for dogs of all kinds, not just wolves. The species name for wolf is Lupus, thus, Lupmon's name. Lykio is the Greek word for wolf. Also, Raksha does indeed mean "Protector". However, it is the name given to Raksha the Demon, the wolf mother of Mowgli in The Jungle Book. In a way, both meanings fit, the latter more than the former.

I am American, Keyo is Scottish. All of Mist's pretend insults automatically fail.

Okay, with all that said, you are now free to drop your jaws at the plot twist and wonder just how we do it in such an awesome way (fellow authors, you can simply look on and study the competition).

**Keyo:** I'll try and keep this comparatively short.

Most of this chapter was written while I was in Ireland (Hence no update last week) and I would have had it up Friday 00:00 but it had only just been finished (because I didn't get to do enough in Ireland it was really long) and I was late sending it to be proof-read.

In countenance to Raven though, DemiDevimon can legitimately digivolve into Witchmon, Wikipedia (my one stop shop for digivolution charts) is where I got the info from.

Next week's update should hopefully explain somethings and leave you more confused than ever. Until then, stay safe, don't drink and drive, and remember to tip your writers.

This week's title was all Raven and is a partial homage to a certain horror movie.

Keyo & Raven


	16. Chapter 16

**Keyo-Red Angel of Hope: **Rinse and repeat the stuff from the start of the last chapters. I apologise for the lateness of this chapter, but I've been working a lot this week. I assure you it has nothing to do with the UK release of that other pet monster game.

Chapter 16: Nightmare Online Pt 2

The Shattered Looking Glass.

As Tanya sat staring out the window, she wished it would rain. She wasn't looking at anything in particular, just gazing out with unfocused eyes. If it were raining, a part of her had said, it would have made her current mood somewhat easier to endure, as well as playing to her own sense of drama.

Giving up on any kind of epiphany crashing into her window like a misguided bird, the dark haired youth placed her glasses down upon the sill before crawling into bed, her eyes settling on her inactive PC for a few moments, still visible in the dim yellow glow that was filtered into her room from outside. Rolling over, she clung tightly to her sheets. She just wanted to forget it all, but it was all there in her mind's eye.

---

The entire battle had come to a hault, Coredramon drifting down from the sky and settling quietly to one side. To be fair, Dainya didn't need to ask why, or what. Eight Ball had already made it clear where her 'friend's' allegiance lay, but still, she found herself asking, grasping for some chance that the hacker was lying and this was some kind of trick. But still, the words fell out of her mouth.

"Cait…what does he mean?"

The adventurer struggled to answer, his jaw moving for a few moments, but unable to form a sentence, unable to provide her with an explanation. It wasn't surprising that Eight Ball was the one to fill the silence.

"It's quite simple really. We all," he waved his arms around, indicating his allies. "Are members of a much greater organization, of which myself and Kitty Cat are highly ranked members." The hacker paused to enjoy all the expressions he was receiving as he provided more and more details. "Back when we first met, we used you as a stooge. While you were off 'saving the day', it was Cait here who completed our mission. We just needed some hapless player to go along and tell the GM's I didn't get to touch anything."

Dainya's eyes had locked on Cait, who was refusing to look at her, refusing to say anything in his defence. The words he eventually spoke were not directed to her.

"Leave, now Eight. You too Mowgli, and yes it is an order." His tone was harsh, and his voice low, but it was enough to gain attention.

"Unless you're forgetting, we are of equal rank and…"

"Unless you're forgetting," Cait snapped, cutting Eight Ball off. "You have endangered our forces in a battle you have clearly lost. If I order an immediate retreat, you must obey it!"

Despite the fury on Cait's face, Eight merely smiled in return, looking somewhat satisfied before giving a sweeping bow. "As you wish, Lieutenant-Colonel."

Eclipsemon rose up beside his partner, spreading his wings wide allowing Mowgli and the reverted Strabimon to move up beside the hacker before the wings enveloped them and the Digimon drew them down into the shadows, vanishing from sight leaving the unsettled group alone.

"Cait…" Dainya began only to be cut off by Sephy.

"DESPERAMON! BLOW THEM AWAY!" The goggle wearing player cried, swinging his arm out to indicate Drakemon and his partner.

"But Kaiser…"

"They're the bad guys! Blast them now!" Sephy pushed, his eyes focused upon Cait.

"Sephy!" Dainya rebuked, more from instinct than anything else.

"Forget it Dainya." Cait sighed, turning and walking through the ruined garden, moving to stand at the ledge looking out upon the world. "He's entitled to be pissed."

"Bu…but…" The girl stammered, her mind a stormy blank as she searched in vain for anything to say.

"Rrraniki?" Lykiomon grumbled. The proceedings had gone right over her head and the wolf was probably the most confused of all, padding up to the red dragon who affectionately ruffled her ears.

"Sorry Lupy." Drakemon joined his partner in sighing before walking to the ledge to stand by him, leaving Lykiomon to look over at him with the sort of sad, confused look only a canine could have, before light engulfed her and she returned to being Lupmon, the same sappy expression still upon her face.

"Dainya…I know there's a lot you want to know, and there are questions you've asked I haven't answered as fully as I could have…" The adventurer kept his back to her as he talked, as if unable to look the girl in the face. "I can't tell you much now…but I…"

"Why did you bring me here?" Dainya interrupted his floundering. "Was it so…"

"No." Cait cut her off. "I just wanted to show you it, because it was beautiful." He turned his head a little, looking over where attacks had dug up the ground and the gouges and cracks that had formed into the trees and the scattered flowers, the havoc of collateral damage from a battle amongst champions. "I'm sorry Dainya, maybe one day soon I'll be able to explain this all to you…but…just, take care of yourself and Lupmon okay?" It was then he did actually look back, but at Sephy, the serene look in the adventurer's eyes startling the boy. "And Sephy, you keep out of trouble. C'mon."

With that last word, he turned to his partner, gripping onto the large chains about the dragon's wrists and placing a foot upon his knee, pushing himself up and climbing onto the dragons back. Drakemon took one last look back towards the group before pushing off and leaping over the ledge, soaring up and vanishing into the dark clouds. With a squawk like roar, Coredramon rose and charged off as well, following the red dragon through the sky and leaving Dainya and the others alone.

"Why didn't you shoot him!?" Sephy cried at his partner as soon as the stupor of the moment wore off.

"I apologise Kaiser…" Desperamon bowed his head, before shining and returning to being Bulletmon, his voice becoming lighter in response. "It just didn't feel right."

Cussing as only a 10 year old can, Sephy then turned to his babysitter.

"I guess we should report this to the GM's." He asked, seeming to be more annoyed at the lack of action for himself than any wrongdoing.

"I…don't want to." Dainya almost muttered, rubbing self-consciously at one arm until Lupmon nuzzled at her hand, demanding attention both to soothe herself and provide a distraction for her partner. "Let's…let's just go Sephy."

Turning she began to walk back towards the tunnel entrance, Lupmon close at her heels, the wolf like Digimon gave a primal sounding whine to indicate her sad confusion, and Dainya wished she could reciprocate the noise. Part of her said she should be angry, but she was far too confused to be able to muster the fiery emotion. Stepping into the entranceway to the cave, she took one last look back at the garden.

It really had been beautiful.

---

Within the gloomy walls of the Victorian Manor house, within that grand dark hall Eight Ball stood smirking with his arms crossed over his chest as the effective debriefing progressed. Mowgli sat once more upon the table, one leg sprawled out while the other was raised with the knee to his chest, his hands laid across his raised kneecap, his teeth bared in a smile far more predatory than Eight's but no less smug, Strabimon sat in the chair behind him, eyes closed with his one leg crossed over the other and arms folded, looking almost asleep if not for the occasional motion visible beneath the lids, or when his ears would twitch. Demidevimon was perched atop a the raised tail of a rather sullen and agitated Komodomon, the red lizard tapped his claws on his arms as he watched the proceedings keeping his stance side on enough to allow Demidevimon to see as Min, in full righteous fury, yelled at her superior officer.

"You almost got Eclipsemon killed!" She cried, pacing around before the calm officer.

"It was a calculated risk. I knew Kitty…Lieutenant-Colonel Cait would show his true colors." The hacker shrugged, otherwise unmoving, despite his correction.

"And that's what this was all about, wasn't it." Cait interrupted from his position by the door, his body partially masked by the shadow of the archway. "It wasn't done just for Mowgli's benefit, was it?"

"I confess that I only wanted the relevant parties to be fully aware of the potential and position of those involved." Eight's smile widened. "I was just trying to help you out."

"Bastard!" Cait suddenly roared, surging forward and grabbing Eight by his lapel, his right arm swinging back in preparation to strike when the stern female voice boomed out from the dark.

"Lieutenant-Colonel!" The combination of words was perfectly eloquent, yet each word carried enough weight to make everyone in the room shudder and freeze where they were.

"It's okay, Brigadier." Eight waved a hand over. "He can hit me as much as he wants, it's not as if I'll really feel it." The hacker fixed his eyes upon Cait's, both knowing that the hacker had won, a result that was vindicated when Cait dropped his fist and released Eight Ball, storming away as Min looked between the two, caught between trying to calm Cait, or pick up where he left off with Eight.

"I won't deny that Lieutenant-Colonel Eight Ball acted well outside his authority and recklessly endangered those under his command, as well as our organization." The crisp voice of the Brigadeer filled the chamber, the sound of padded footsteps drawing eyes at least towards the darkness. "And for that, he shall be punished. However, he has succeeded in forcing this matter to a head. Mowgli, do you feel fit to cast your vote?" She looked to the wild player, who looked back to his partner and received a nod.

"Vote yes." He nodded towards the Brigadier, a grunt of annoyance and something like a sigh of relief emitting from amongst the others.

"Very well." The Brigadier nodded back. "In that case the C.O's and I have agreed that this will be resolved tomorrow night." White and purple robes became visible as the Brigadier entered the light, gently swaying with the motions of her tall form, her feet large, round, white paws bearing obsidian claws. "What was your assessment of the boy?" A critical eye glanced over those who had been in the battle, forcing the discussion back to business.

"Idiot." Mowgli replied first, scoffing.

"Pain." Komodomon shook his head, receiving an encouraging nod and jab from Demidevimon.

"…Well meaning…" Cait added in, though with some hesitation. "But very immature." He added with much less.

"A classic fanboy who shall be forever in over his head." Eight surmised. "But his partner is exceptional in both skill and intelligence."

"Very well." The Brigadier nodded, bringing a paw like hand up to a yellow fox like face as she processed the information, as well as her own views. Her head tipping enough to reveal the black hat of a Taoist priest, her robes making gentle fluttering sounds that for some reason gripped the hearts of those present in the now quiet chamber. "We shall include him in the plans also and reserve final judgement for the General." A protest began but was silenced by a rising of the Brigadier's hand. "This is the will of the High Command, and thus the will of the Nightmare Soldiers, and it shall be obeyed."

No one argued.

"We are adjourned for tonight, the Brigadier-General and General shall join us tomorrow for to settle the matter of this girl and her partner. Understood?"

"Yes Brigadier Taomon!" Was the collective response, while the enthusiasm was varied, each voice rang out loud.

**Raven: **It's that time again. Time to question our sanity once again as we show you more cool ideas that make you stare in awe…Okay, now I'm just getting egotistical.

There's not much to say. The only thing I know that's new is the official name of the group Cait and Eight Ball are in, the Nightmare Soldiers. For those of you who are as obsessed as we are, Nightmare Soldiers is a Digimon family in the old trading card game. Keyo wanted to use them, and the old Grey Lord's Mansion from Digimon World 1, and I streamlined it a bit and we threw it in as our first antagonist force.

So tune in next week, where Duke orders all of the female Moderators to wear…TINY MINISKIRTS!

(Note: This last preview was fake.)

**Keyo**: I'm not 100 happy with this chapter, but most of what I could add I'm planning on including in the next chapter, so myeh. It probably would have been better if I hadn't had so many work hours this week.

It's a pity actually, because I was really looking forward to this one as some light is finally cast upon the now named 'Nightmare Soldiers', and I am glad to finally give a face to one of the shadowy voices, that of Brigadeer Taomon.

As much of a bother I had with this, I really enjoyed getting to use the Nightmare Soldiers again.


	17. Chapter 17

**Keyo:** I'm suffering from a lack of 'h' key. It's getting worse and worse. Notes in all the right places, and all characters and property know which side their bread is buttered on.

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Raid! Pt 1

Looking for group.

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The Floridian sky continued to refuse to reflect Tanya's mood and hurled out strong waves of sun light, bathing the city in ridiculously warm weather without so much as hinting at anything even as meagre as a flash shower. And so Tanya opted to sulk in the shade of the large oak that sat within the school gardens, Charley dangling the wrong way up from a high up branch that grew parallel to the 'No Climbing' sign.

"You done sulkin' yet?" The cheerleader sighed, crossing her arms as she hung.

"No…" Tanya sighed in return.

"You gonna tell me what yer sulkin' about yet?" Charley asked, her sighing tone gathering more irritation.

"No…" Tanya returned with a smaller increase in annoyance, causing her friend to roll her eyes before swinging up and sitting upon the branch.

Returning her arms to their crossed position, Charley spent a few moments silently fuming as she tried to think of a way to crack her friend open. It was not in the cheerleader's nature to let people sulk and sigh, particularly when it came to her introverted and, in her opinion, overly sensitive friend. Clutching tightly to the branch, she let herself drop and hung, stretched out like a drying blanket, for a few moments before dropping the ground and landing in a crouch, providing her own silent congratulation for not hurting herself this time. Standing upright and brushing bark dust from her trousers, the teen moved to stand before her friend, partially wishing the sun were to her back so she could have cast an intimidating shadow to go with her fierce look.

"Oy!" She commanded Tanya's attention, forcing the girl to lift her dull face up, the mopey look in her eyes magnified by her glasses, effectively quenching Charely's warfire with a sigh as the girl switched tracks to a softer approach, sitting down by her friend and looping an arm about her shoulders. "C'mon Tanny, you know you can always tell me what's up, and you know I hate seeing you sulk. What can ol'Charley do to help eh?"

Shaking her head, Tanya gave her friend the best smile she could, Charley's own face wilting a little to see her friend's effort, as she responded.

"It's…nothing. It's something really silly in the game I'm playing, and there's nothing you could do, and it is silly…"

Silencing Tanya's rambles with her free hand, Charely gave off a low chuckle, the sort given to mask the need to slap your friends around when they talk nonsense.

"Nonsense!" Charley appropriately declared. "I can drag you out of the dark room of yours and make you have some fun! We can go bowling, and get some ice-cream, and…"

A set of muffled words and a prodding at her hand pulled the lithe girl from her ramblings and she proceeded to release her friend's mouth from her grip.

"But don't you have training tonight?"

"Screw it! I'd rather go out and party with you!" Charley proceeded to punch the air with her free arm, pulling Tanya closer with the other. "All night if necessary!"

"What about the paper you have due tomorrow?"

The face of the cheerleader fell momentarily as she remembered the document that sat far from finished within the memories of her own computer, not to mention her already poor classwork record, before shrugging it off and striking out with her powerful smile once more.

"Okay, maybe not all night but you get the picture!"

Nodding, Tanya relented and almost grinned when Charley pulled her into a tight hug and began to rant about all they would be doing that night.

---

**Digimon Online Message Board -**

**Topic: Mods About.**

**WhatsupDoc:** Recently I've seen the moderators moving around the game. It's really weird because normally they only pop up to settle some big dispute. Anyone know what's go them so flustered?

**Iggypop300**: Who are the moderators? I'm new so I don't quite get it…

**WhatsupDoc: **They're kinda like the police and army of the game. They enforce the rules and punish those who break them. So I guess they're also judge, jury, and executioner as well. You can tell a mod when you see them because their avatars were suits and they have Megas for partners.

**Iggypop: **They sound kinda scary…

**WildMoose:** I hear most of them are pretty vicious, but I met one called 'Duke' (His partner is Gallantmon, so cool!) and he seemed to be a pretty okay guy. He was real friendly and seemed to love the game.

**SkullMushroom:** Oh hey! I met him too. I think a lot of people have, I mean, even more than the others recently. He's smexy.

**WhatsupDoc:** But does anyone know why they're all out and about? I mean, I've been playing for 3 years and never seen a Mod, and last night I ran into 3!

**SkullMushroom: **Heavy. (What were their partners btw?)

**WildMoose:** It's probably something to do with Eight Ball. You've heard about all the trouble he's been giving them…er…sort of, seeing as no-one will say what he's done.

**WhatsupDoc:** Good point Moose. (Crusadermon, Craniumon, and Magnadramon Mushy. Not all at once mind.)

**Digital Kaiser Sephiroth:** I know some of what Eight's been doing, and who's working with him.

**Iggypop300:** Huh? (Who's Eight Ball?)

**SkullMushroom: **Spill Kaiser! (He's a dangerous hacker Iggy. Just fire his name into Wobble Search Engine and you'll get more than enough.)

**WildMoose:** oO There are players working with him?

**WhatsupDoc: **C'mon Kaiser! Tell us!

**Digital Kaiser Sephiroth: ** **-This post has been removed by Moderator Kuan Yu-**

**WndrGoggleDigidestined: **-censored- Mds! –censored- -censored- -censored-!!! –Censored Kisr prbly didn knw ny –censored- -censored- anywy. –censored-

**WhatsupDoc:** How _do_ you keep coming back?

**-Topic has been locked by Moderator Kuan Yu-**

---

"Done moping?"

"Sort of… I had a lot of fun though Charley."

Smiling, the dark haired cheerleader clapped a hand on her geeky friend's shoulder and shook her head.

"Don't mention it, I'm just glad I got to drag you out for awhile, remind you that there's a lot to do in the real world too."

It was the lament of the evening for Charley that she had failed to draw the exact problem from Tanya, but a healthy round of bowling, a few game of Dance Dance Revolution, ice-cream and chasing after late busses (along with Charley coming close to threatening the bus driver into waiting for the slow moving Tanya to catch up) had greatly cheered the Tanya's spirits and let her forget about things for a few hours.

"Thanks Charley, I mean it." Tanya returned with a small smile, before yawning, the orange light of the now setting sun shining in her face.

"You got and get some rest." Charley patted her friend's shoulder before turning and heading off towards her own home.

"Good luck finishing the essay!" Tanya waved, watching her friend wince.

"Yah…I'm gonna need that…"

Chuckling, Tanya turned and headed up the stairs of her apartment building, memories of the time with Charley pushing back the black smoggy weight the night before had placed upon her heart and mind.

Slumping through the door of her apartment, she smiled and nodded as her mother asked if she had a good time, and if she had eaten or not. Accepting the warm hug she nuzzled into the warmth her mother offered, using it to push the thoughts further away.

"I think I'll just go and get ready for bed." She said.

"Okay." Her mother smiled, moving back. "It's probably best, you were kind of wilty this morning."

Trying to keep her face straight, Tanya nodded and gave a small 'yeah' before moving towards her room, her mother's voice catching her before she went through the door.

"Are you okay honey."

"Yeah Mom. Just tired." She lied, before slipping into her room.

Flicking the light switch on, Tanya let out a long tired sigh before staring at her computer. Walking across, she brushed her hand over her digivice before scolding herself and turning away and beginning to change.

When she found out about Min, it left her sad and confused. They had met by chance and she had liked the girl, and discovering she was something bad hadn't been pleasant. But Cait…he had used her! As an unwitting pawn to achieve…god only knew they were so enigmatic! It was hard to be angry, because she was so confused. Cait, and Min too, had both seemed so…sad. And they seemed to genuinely friendly, Cait hadn't taken her and Sephy out to that garden for a malicious reason, he'd been mad at Eight Ball and upset…unless of course he was simply a great actor. Catching herself, she realised she was close to setting into paranoia. Standing in her white, yellow ducky patterned pyjamas, Tanya stared once more at the PC. Part of her really didn't want to play, not simply because she was tired, but because of the emotional knot that lumped in her chest, irrational, but still explicable.

It was where Cait was. She just didn't…couldn't…

Pushing in the power button, Tanya called life back into the machine as the fans filled the room with the 'whurr' of the fans.

She wanted to see Lupmon.

---

Her digital body fading into existence, Dainya remembered the sad confused look up on her partners face, and wondered if she would receive the normal energetic welcome the wolf gave her. Even if she was just a program, a well made one at that, Tanya was very attached to her partner. The fast moving ball of fur and the great wet tongue settled her doubts.

"Dainya!" Lupmon cheered, relenting faster than normal and bounding away, only to return with an envelop clasped in her jaws, sitting upon all fours with her tail beating against the ground.

"Yu goff a leffer!" She cheered, watching her partner rise, her head tilting to follow the position of Dainya's.

'I wonder if I should have expected that.' Dainya thought to herself. If she thought about it, she would have found it odd that her conclusion was based not on Lupmon being a program, but because she was Lupmon, and to sulk was so far out of her character.

"Thanks Lupmon." She crouched to retrieve the letter, glad that the game didn't seem to have saliva physics. Turning it over in her hands, she wondered if this was the game's version of messaging. Opening it, she took a look down at her companion, tail still wagging with a dopey doggy grin on her face, it was actually, given her own feelings and the night before, a little unsettling. "Why are you so cheery?" She found herself asking.

"Because you're here!" Lupmon cheered, as if obvious. "And you took soooooooo long this time too." She huffed before snapping back into the happy, slightly slobbery, look. "But you're here now."

It wouldn't be hard, Dainay allowed herself to think, to find something very deep within the simply workings of Lupmon's mind. Feeling a little cheered by the doggy grin, Dainya then committed herself to opening the letter, opening out the folded sheet of paper which bore a bat shaped watermark and read….

"_To Miss Dainya…_

_Recently you have been the source of great disturbance within our organization, and it has been decided that tonight (xx/xx/xx/) will be the night to determine your fate._

_It as due to this that we issue the metaphorical gauntlet for you to challenge us. Failure to do so will result in our resources being used to lock your account down in order to prevent any information you have being passed to the moderators. _

_Please come to the Del Graveyard at once._

_The Nightmare Soldiers._

'This must be who Cait and Eight work for…' Dainya thought as she finished, before holding it out and skimming over it again. "It's seems pretty lame and non-evil for a threatening letter though…" She thought out loud.

"WHO CARES!"

Nearly shrieking, Dainya whirled to find a very aggravated Sephy and a rather apologetic looking Bulletmon staring up at her.

"Where have you been! I got my letter as soon as I got home and have been sitting waiting for you to get here!"

"I was…out." The girl paraphrased while fighting for control of her heart-rate.

"Out? The fate of the world is at stake and you were 'out'!?" The goggle boy cried in an indignant fashion, arms waving in emphasis.

"Kaiser, I doubt it is actually that serious." Bulletmon interjected, trying to calm his partner.

"They're screwing with the game!" Sephy turned his attention to the virus. "That's about as serious as it gets." Turning with force, Sephy pulled his letter from the extra dimensional space of his item list and flashed it in her face. "They're gonna lock us out of we don't go, we gotta go! Now!"

"B…but…" Dainya stuttered. Going would mean seeing Cait and Min…confronting them…probably fighting them…she just couldn't. "I…I don't want to fight…I don't want to fight them…"

"Then we'll blow them away!" Sephy swung his arm out to indicate, and nearly strike, his partner.

Wavering, Dainya looked down. She really didn't think she could do this. With a 'huff', Sephy dropped his arms to his sides and began to walk away.

"C'mon Bulletmon." He nodded at his partner. "We wasted our time waiting for her."

"What's going on Dainya?" Lupmon asked, her head tilting in confusion. "Where are Sephy and Bulletmon going?"

Looking down at the dopey look on her partners face, Dainya tried to put together an explanation the wolf would get, and that she could bring herself to say.

"They're going to where Cait and Komodomon are." She settled on. "They're going to fight."

"Oh! Oh! Can we go too?" Lupmon began to bounce on the spot. "I want to see Aniki again!"

Sighing, Dainya crouched so that she was on equal level with the wolf, looking straight into her eyes.

"Lupmon, do you understand what happened last night?" She asked.

With wild movement, Lupmon swung her head up and down in a nod, before switching to a shake.

"Not really…" She admitted. "But I know that Aniki could explain it all to me! So if we go, we can ask him!"

Smiling, Dainya reached out and ruffled Lupmon's ears, receiving a cheerful pant in return, once more revelling in her partner's unrealised wisdom.

"You're right Lupmon." She stood up. "We'll go and ask him."

Giving a cheerful yelp, the wolf tore off in pursuit of Sephy, tackling the young boy and drawing out the usual exclamations and protests from her 'prey.' Catching up, Dainya gently encouraged Lupmon to get off Sephy, as they couldn't go if she had him pinned to the ground.

"So you're coming then?" He asked, dusting himself off.

"Yeah." Dainya nodded, and the boys face lit up as he let out a war cry.

"We're off then!" And he charged off, Lupmon matching his speed and enthusiasm while Bulletmon tried to keep up, worrying as always for his partner's safety.

'I'll go.' Dainya thought to herself. 'Cait said he wanted to explain it all to me, and Min said they were doing something very important…I'll go and I'll ask them myself.'

"Wait up Sephy!" She called. "I want to call someone first!" She began to race in pursuit while trying to decipher the mailing system commands.

"Don't call me Sephy!" The boy called back. "And who?"

---

**Name: Agumon**

**Type: Vaccine**

**Attacks: **Pepper Breath, Baby Burner, Claw Attack.

"You scanned Agumon…" Dainya nursed her temples. "I cannot believe you felt the need to scan Agumon."

"I told you it was a habit." Sephy returned, crossing his arms and looking away, before wincing at the sight of moustaches and opting instead to stare at the table. "And why did we have to come _here_ again?"

The cheery noise of the barber shop quartet once more filled their ears as the group sat within Gekomon's bar, the aforementioned Agumon sitting across from them with an irritated look while a white clad figure nodded her head having finished reading the letter and listening patiently, with the occasional gut wrenching sound of over overly enthusiastic knuckle cracking cutting in. The thought of rushing into a confrontation with Eight and…everyone without senior support was uncomfortable. As it was, there was only one person she could think of who would not only be able to help, but would likely relish in the mad scenario.

With a nod, White Sythe opened her eyes.

"Okay, I'll help you out."

"Really?" Dainya returned her attention to the PvP freak.

"Of course." The player known as White Sythe smiled in a chilling fashion, the sickening knuckle crack once more reaching the ears of those at the table. "After what you told me how could it not be a pleasure to see Cait again."

"So can we go _now?_" Sephy whined, his wait starting to wear him down.

"Sort of." Sythe grinned, pushing herself up and straightening out her long coat. "You can't just walk into the Del Graveyard, but fortunately for you, I know the way in."

With Agumon walking beside her, she led the others outside before looking back, a stern look upon her face.

"But this is a dangerous place, and these are big hitters. You sure you wanna do this?"

With glances between each other, save for Sephy's immediate reaction, they all nodded and Sythe sighed, somewhere between relief and psyching herself up.

"To war then." She grinned, her lips stretching back, giving her a scary look that served to enhance her usual aggressive posture.

'We're going to find out everything.' Dainya thought, tugging nervously at the hem of her tee-shirt. 'I hope.'

**Raven: **Not much to say. Charley's helped out, there's another forum, and Sythe and Sephy finally meet. It should be interesting to see a friend of a villain get into this fight.

Our real problem was trying to bring in Sephy's habit of scanning every Digimon that walks by. We went through a rough draft with a different story that had sadly skipped this moment, and had to re-write the ending to bring it in. I think it looks pretty awesome now though, and the stop we had to delete, we can easily place in the next chapter.

And…wow. Nothing witty for me to say at all.

**Keyo**: Once again the chapter is up much later than I intended. I apologise.

Everything is coming together for this arc of the story, and it's good to know I'll be writing more for Sythe and Min. I've been looking forward to the meeting between Sephy and Sythe :p

Recently, I've been working quite a few hours which means my bank account if filling nicely, though it does play havoc with my free time, especially since I keep getting chased up by people for my time when I am off, and I still have to paint my Grandma's decking…Not to mention how 'that other pet monster' game keep intruding on me. I warn you all that when Digimon Dusk/Dawn comes out, I'll be getting distracted all over again.

Please be kind everyone and wish Raven a happy Birthday as he grows a year older on Sunday.

Next week we venture into the morbid land of the Del Graveyard, home of the Nightmare Soldiers.

Oooh. I feel all Bleachy.


	18. Chapter 18

**Keyo:** Still no 'h' key, notes are still in their places, Bandai still own all of Digi-dom and we still own all of our Digi-Fan-dom. I also apologise for getting later and later with these.

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Chapter 18: Raid! Pt 2

Abandon Hope All Ye Who Hit Enter!

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With a whine, the Trailmon drew into the rickety looking station. The Trailmon in question was pitch black, save for where the paint peeled back, a skull shaped mask sat at the front of the engine to act as the face, the dirty smoke and the flecks of red heat and still warm ash streaming from the short funnel looking like long locks of demonic hair. A single car was pulled; it's black pain in a similar state to that of the engine, with worn paper lanterns dangling by the windows to provide a small amount of illumination for the shabby and worn interior. The station itself looked near collapse and was manned solely by a single Bakemon clad in a conductor's cap. Creaking, splintered wood made up the decking and station house, slats were missing and the whole set up looked even worse for the sick colour of the sky, an ill orange lining the horizon that bled into a mix of black and purple smog like clouds, a layering similar to the smoke that had been billowing from the Trailmon. Finally the clouds gave way to a night sky that seemed harsh and cold, filled with only a few stars and a bright moon that seemed closer than normal, ugly and sinister.

Screeching brake's signalled the Trailmon's stop, the lanterns swinging wildly, unsettling the meagre cluster of passengers who road the trail. Shuddering, the Trailmon finally did stop and the doors of the carriage autonomously swung open with a creak.

"Del Graveyard…" It moaned. "End of the Line…All passangers off."

Clattering and setting off more creaks from the wood floor, the small troupe disembarked, finding the Trailmon's choice of words quite literal as a worn sign named the station 'End of the Line', each letter looking like it was clawed into the wood. The small group had been the only ones riding, and standing upon the platform they found that the small station felt chillingly large for the lack of players, so different it was to the crowded station back in Root Town. As soon as they were off, the Trailmon groaned again and began to chug off with a fresh shudder and screech, vanishing off down the track.

"The Del Graveyard. A perfect spot for a villainous hideout…creepy, reclusive, and high level." Sythe grinned as she stepped off the train.

"So, we'll never find a bigger hive of scum and villainy anywhere else in the known universe?" Tanya asked, her geek instincts kicking in as she joined the PvP freak on the platform.

"So you've been here before?" Sephy asked, looking up at the black haired avatar.

"Doi!" Whilring, the Sythe bonked the kid on the head. "I wouldn't have known where to find the Horror style Trailmon if I hadn't. This place is reclusive because it's a hidden area."

Turning to look over the wasted landscape, filled with withered plants and trees and decrepit tomb stones, all sprinkled with a generous helping of miserable grey fog, the ferocious player known as White Sythe looked like a heroic fantasy heroine, the brilliant white, blues and golds of her outfit shining out like a beacon amongst the gloom of their environment.

"Thanks for coming Sythe." Dainya bowed her head, Lupmon ceasing in her pestering of Agumon to do likewise.

"Don't worry about it." Sythe waved her off. "After what you told me how could I refuse?"

"Still, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." Dainya insisted.

"I'm surprised we got here _with_ her." Sephy protested, before receving another bonk from the short tempered player.

It had taken them the better part of an hour to reach the skull Trailmon, as Sythe had to lead them to the base of the grand Infinity Mountain which sat at the centre of the island. Or rather, tried to, as the group had gotten lost on numerous occasions, especially when navigating the caves that lay within the mountain. On many occasions they found themselves coming back around in a circle, or confronted with a dead end as Sythe muttered comments regarding how sure she had been that it had been that way, or pondering aloud about how a wall had made it's way onto the path. Naturally, Sephy hadn't taken the unintentional diversions well, and had made his opinion well known each and every time.

Eventually they had found their way, taking them deep down below the island through gloomy corridors where not even enemy Digimon lurked, coming eventually upon the station Sythe had affectionately referred to as 'End of the Line.'

"In any case. We don't know where we're supposed to go from here." Agumon interrupted, taking the chance to place some distance between himself and Lupmon.

"He's right." Sythe nodded. "The Del Graveyard is pretty big, it could take us all night to even find a clue."

"Especially with you leading the way…" Sephy muttered to himself.

"What was that runt?" Sythe glared at the boy.

"Kaiser, I'm sure Miss Sythe is doing the best she can to navigate us." Bulletmon tried to peace make.

"What does that mean?" The white clad player continued to glare, now focusing on the small virus.

Unsurprisingly a full on argument broke out between the two players with Bulletmon's efforts to make peace only making matters worse.

"Are they always this noisy?"

Turning, Dainya looked around, unable to find the origin of the voice, before Lupmon tugged on her trousers and pointed up to the battered roof of the station.

"DemiDevimon!" She cried, causing the other to break from their argument and Sephy to effectively launch into action, translating as yelling for Bulletmon to launch into action.

"Bulletmon! Attack!"

"Yes Kaiser!" The armoured virus swung his arms up, aiming both barrels at the demonic dust bunny. "Long Shot!"

"Sephy! Wait!" Dainya cried too late, the muzzles of Bulletmon's barrels flashing as he unleashed a barrage of shots, causing his target to take flight, darting almost spastically in the air in an effort to avoid being hit.

"Woah, woah, woah!" DemiDevimon dropped suddenly to avoid the latest round. "Why are you shooting at me!?"

Taking what he probably assumed was a strong, defiant stance, Sephy raised one fist to chest height before staring up at his perceived foe.

"Because…" he paused for a dramatic breath. "We do not negotiate with hackers!"

"Bulletmon, stop, please." Dainay appealed to the Digimon, knowing that even the most linear of programmes would be easier to reason with.

Bulletmon looked to his partner for a moment, and received only a disgruntled 'huff' in return, and so he nodded his consent and lowered his arms.

"Demi," Dainya turned to the near hyperventilating Digimon, using the effective nickname Min had used. "I'm sorry, we…I…we…um…sorta just wanted to talk. Please, where's Min."

"You forgettin' she was a little too happy to become Witchmon and fight us?" Sephy interrupted.

"I'll admit, she did sound rather gung-ho." Agumon reluctantly agreed, recollecting Dainya's description of events, even if they were a little watered down.

"I think you have the wrong Digimon." The petit rookie straightened itself as best it could before dusting itself down with one wing. "I fear I am more of masculine inclination and consider myself free of any… 'gung-ho' tendencies."

Blinking in their confusion, Dainya and the others tried to process the rather proper mode of speech used by the Digimon commonly associated with rudeness and vulgarity.

"I'm really sorry." Dainya dropped down, bring her knees up to her chest as she tried to reach something resembling eye level with the small virus. "We're all very jumpy just now."

"I understand." The apology was acknowledged with a nod. "The Graveyard has that affect on people."

"We're looking for a group who challenged us to come here, and we're a little…"

"Lost?" The DemiDevimon provided. "And before leaving the station too." Chuckling, he flapped his wings and rose into the air, allowing Dainya to stand and maintain eye level. "Yet another effect the Graveyard has on those who enter." Turning, he looked out over the mist-covered land, the group following his action. "The mist only ever grows thicker and you either go in circles or wander into a trap you cannot escape from. The Bakemon who live out there are almost invisible in it too…and as deadly as they are, they are the weakest of opponents you will find out there."

The dramatic effect of the collective gulp was ruined by the unimpressed snort given by Sythe and Agumon.

"If you're looking for a group though, there is only one place they could be." The group snapped their head back to the hovering Digimon.

"Spill!" Sephy demaned, stretching his arm out and pointing rudely at DemiDevimon, before receiving another rebuking strike from Sythe.

"I'm sorry." Dainya flushed, casting a look back to Sephy before returning to the small virus. "Could you please help us?" Dainya practically pleaded, hands clasped before her.

"I could not, in good conscience, allow a lady such as yourself to wonder these lands." Fluttering over her shoulder, it took Dainya a moment to realise what he was seeking permission for and nodded her ascent, allowing DemiDevimon to alight upon her shoulder, one wing moving behind her head for balance, while he used his outward wing to point out into the misted lands.

"All of this land is ruin and danger, but there is one structure out there which even the Bakemon do not haunt, a great grey mansion that lies so quiet that it seems to be the largest tomb stone in the Del Graveyard."

"Dramatic ain't he?" Agumon whispered to Sythe, who gently nudged his large head with her elbow in response, a smirk on her face.

Ignoring the PvP freaks, DemiDevimon continued to converse with Dainya.

"So how far is it?" She asked.

"If you don't know, hours, if you do, minutes." DemiDevimon fanned the air with his outside wing once more.

"Oh! And do you know?" Lupmon piped up, beaming up at the demonic fluff, who, while evidently caught off guard by the outburst, smiled benevolently down at the wolf.

"Intimately." DemiDevimon bowed, sweeping his wing around, looking up to catch Lupmon's confused look, and once more smiled. "I do."

---

"Daiiyynna! I don't like this place…" Lupmon clutched onto her partners jersey, nuzzling into her hip.

Reaching down, Dainya gently scratched at the wolf's ears.

"I'm sorry Lupmon, I promise we'll be able to see Cait and Komodomon soon." She tried to reassure her partner, who released an appreciative whine.

"I thought you said this would just take minutes?" Sephy grumbled.

"And it will." DemiDevimon responded, still perched upon Dainya's shoulder, even his gentlemanly patience was beginning to wear in regards to the impatient goggle child.

"It's only been 10 minutes." Sythe smacked him in the back of the head.

"That's abuse y'know…"

"You can't really feel it." Sythe returned. "What I'm gonna do to Cait though…"

Those wearing head-phones winced as the tail end of Sythe's knuckle cracking penetrated their ears once more.

For these ten-minutes they had walked in relative peace through the Del Graveyard, with each of them having jumped at least once at the wailing moans of the Bakemon lurking in the mist.

It had at one point occurred to the travellers as they walked among the gloomy and gothic monuments to the dead that despite the fearsome reputation of the Del Graveyard, and Sythe's own experiences that they had not so much as been looked at by any of the local Digimon, let alone attacked by a high level foe. None, however, had voiced their concerns, either through fear of jinxing their apparent good luck or to avoid looking silly.

"There!" DemiDevimon waved them to a halt, all eyes following his outstretched wing.

In a site where clouds thickened to a point where rain wept from the sky the mansion stood, instinctively bracing themselves the group found the curtain of rain now moving over them. Wordlessly, the group agreed to move forward, approaching the Victorian Manor house, the dark windows and gothic carving upon the great oak doors practically slapping them with horror movie overtones.

"So, what we do now?" Dainya asked, placing a hand against the solid door, unable to spot a bell or a doorman.

"We knock." Sythe grinned.

With a flash of orange light, she pulled her glowing hand to her digivice and pointed it outward, Agumon charging forward at the door, the same light spreading out around him.

"Agumon Digivolve to…GEOGREYMON!"

The great oak door exploded inward as GeoGreymon burst through scattering pieces of wood into the gloom. The group looked to Sythe for a moment, disbelief on their faces before a flying dinosaur caught their attention, GeoGreymon letting out a 'wumpf' noise that was overshadowed by the noise of his great body crashed down upon the earth.

"Knock, knock."

Turning to look back the group found themselves face to face with a colossal Golemmon, the hulking patchwork rock beast was just as formidable looking at the one that Eight Ball had set against Dainya, Sephy, Lupmon and Bulletmon before, and to speak of the devil, he stood upon the beast's metal cap, his coat fluttering as it lumbered forward Eclipsemon crouched by him.

"You came, I'm so glad. We were worried, it's so hard to plan events online because of all the different time zones involved." The hacker spoke with enough of a blend of sarcasm and geniality to make the fact that they were standing out in the rain even more of an insult. "And you brought a friend…" Eight gestured to Sythe and the once again risen GeoGreymon, his eyes smirking.

"Why did you call us here Eight?" Dainya called up, ignoring his theatrics.

"My, you act as if I were the boss." The hacker chuckled. "Though as we are currently missing members of our chain of command, I suppose I am."

"Who cares what this nut has to say?" Sythe yelled, pulling a disc from her coat. "I was gonna save all of these for further in, but I guess I can use one for right now. Go get em' GeoGreymon!"

Roaring, her partner once more rushed forward, now targeting Golemmon, who raised it's arms defensively in preparation.

"Stat Modifier! Power Up!"

With a red glow surrounding him, GeoGreymon crashed into Golemmon, it's claws finding purchase as he forced the monster back into the gloom of the mansion, attempting to force it down as Sythe ran to stay by her partner.

"C'mon guys!" She cried, Lupmon and Sephy immediately responding with a war cry like 'Right!' before rushing in, their respective partners calling after them before pursuing.

Once they were all across the threshold, Eight's smirk became a grin and he snapped his fingers.

Immediately the stone flooring they stood upon gave way, and with a cry the group found itself falling down into an opaque blackness.

"Crimson Plume!" Golmemon cried, more vocal than the last had been, and unleashed the deadly red cloud into GeoGreymon's face, causing it to lose it's grip and fall back, allowing Golemmon to swing it's arms out and hold itself suspended in the air, it's stone hands pushing against each of the far walls, GeoGreymon's roar of indignation filling the air before becoming to far off to be heard.

"My plans sure are a bit messy." Eight commented, looking at the destruction. "Golemmon, I want you to go after them okay?" The earthen beast nodded its acknowledgement. "Good. Let's go Eclipsemon."

Without a word, the demon wrapped its arms around its partner and sank into the shadows cast upon Golemmon's back, courtesy of the dim candles lining the walls. Once they were gone, Golemmon grunted and withdrew its arms, following its prey into the shadows below.

**Raven: **So I'm sitting here, watching the Ben 10 movie, wishing I was playing some of my new Xbox Live game demos, when I need to write some Author Notes. Yeah, I'm swamped with work.

Hard to believe we're coming down to the main fights of our first antagonists. Though in my opinion, it feels like it's taken a long time. And the next story arc we got planned probably won't be too quick either. Kinda like the first DBZ sagas, without the stupid two volumes of Ginyu or Garlic Jr. in between. But I mostly can't wait until we stop pushing the ball that is our plot uphill and where we can happily watch it roll into the reader's faces. It'll still be work, but it will be even more fun for us than this current arc.

So, please be patient with us as we slowly but surely continue this lovely little fanfiction, and we promise we'll be as on time as possible, so you can be sure you'll get your fix once a week.

**Keyo:** I'm getting worse and worse for being late with these…

Finally getting to the climax! There are secrets that will soon be revealed, but first, we have some kick ass battles to get through!

I'm looking forward to this arc's resolution, there is so much I want to talk about but never can. This is one of the great things about working in a partnership, we can talk about all the fun spoilers and what lies ahead that you all have no idea about.

I think I'm a bit too heavy on the old cliffy's these days…


	19. Chapter 19

**Keyo: **Friday 17 2007, the day I often scramble to finish this, was my Birthday…

I'M SO OLD!!!!!

Damn kids oughta know where all yer notes and stuff are by now…so get offa my lawn!

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Chapter 19 – Raid (pt 3)

Ever seen the Movie Labyrinth?

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"I thought you were going to bed?"

Looking sheepishly up at her mother, Tanya tried to mumble together a response.

"I just thought I'd check my e-mail, and well…" She made some meek gestures towards the visor and monitor.

Sighing, her mother gave her a loose smile.

"Well, don't stay up too late okay. I don't want you shuffling out of the house like this morning." Stepping back, she moved to close to the door, before sticking her head back into the room in the way that mothers do. "And try to keep the screaming down?"

Blushing, Tanya nodded weakly before tugging the visor back down as her mother left her room, immersing herself in the shadows that now surrounded her…

---

"You scream, really, really loud." Lupmon beamed, her tail batting against the cold flagstone flooring as she looked down at her partner, presently lying sprawled out upon the floor.

The fall had not been as damaging as it should have been, and Dainya found that her health was ticking quite near to full as she stood up, Lupmon exiting her sitting posture to scurry around her, sniffing away as if she could smell any lingering damage. Growing a little dizzy, Dainya put a halt to the wolf's activities by petting her head gently, Lupmon instinctively nuzzling into her palm, satisfied now the she was fine.

"Where are we?" The player voiced to the air, her head turning only to see dimly lit corridors made from thick flagstones stretching out in a great 'T' around her, small flaming wall torches lining the walls.

"I think it's a maze." Came DemiDevimon's crisp voice.

Looking down, Dainya found the small virus standing upon the flagstones, his fore-claws clutched around the edge of the one he stood upon, gently scraping at it as if it were a nervous response, nibbling at the tip of one wing, it was clear he was thinking.

"I had no idea anything like this existed…" he muttered to himself.

"Where are the others?" Dainya asked, looking around, but finding only gloom, and flame, and stone.

"No know." Lupmon stepped back, shaking her head.

"When we fell, we got separated somehow." DemiDevimon mused, raising his rotund form to look at the harsh stone that comprised the ceiling above high above them. "And unless there is another way out, it seems we're stuck."

Following the Digimon's gaze, Dainya let out a heavy sigh. So much for a big dramatic showdown and getting her questions answered. Things seemed to simply be becoming more and more convoluted.

"What's a maze Dainya?" Lupmon tugged at her partner's top, bringing her gaze back down.

"It's a…" Dainya licked her top lip, thinking of a good explanation. "It's like a building that tries to get you lost."

"That's mean." Lupmon frowned. "Can you get us found again?"

"Don't worry." Dainya smiled, causing the wolf's ears to perk back up. "I did something like this once before, of course, it was a hedge maze but…" Looking at Lupmon's furrowing brow, Dainya realised she was losing her partner. "If we keep following the one wall, we'll be able to reach the way out." She emphasised by placing a palm upon one of the walls, Lupmon responding with a long, comprehending (sort of) 'Ooooooh'.

Suddenly a tearing pair of roars echoed through the corridors, combined with the booming noise of large bodies crashing against hard stone.

"What was that?" Dainya asked, turning her full body around to look down through each of the corridors, trying to pinpoint the origin of the noise, which still floated around them.

"Whatever it is…" DemiDevimon lowered his wing, joining the player in looking around, though slower, and calmer. "I hope it means they're the ones in trouble, not us."

---

Claws locked with stone GeoGreymon and Golemmon pushed against one another in a battle of strength, each roaring and bellowing as they strained to push the other around in the confined space, occasionally slipping and finding themselves forcefully crashing against one of the walls, before a well placed head-butt or kick would allow them to break out and resume the struggle.

Looking on, Sythe inwardly cursed, her digivice clutched in one hand while the other twirled a strength modifier disc. The last one was starting to wear off and it was clear that without its power Golemmon may have a good chance of getting an advantage over her partner, but as she had said, she didn't want to use up what discs she had taking on a grunt like this. Unfortunately, Golemmon was proving to be an exceedingly strong grunt. Shaking her head clear, she cursed herself. She was a PvP fighter; no way she was going to fall to some computer controlled rubble puppet.

"GeoGreymon!" She called, pulling the disc back into her palm and throwing her arm out. "Stop playing around and roast this freak!"

Seeming to nod, GeoGreymon began to give ground, slipping back as a deep rumble began deep within his body, the great dinosaur's entire body began to quiver with some great power. When Dainya and Sephy had faced one in the forest ruins, Sythe knew, that they were worn and beaten from taking on Witchmon. They were also, Sythe justified, not her. She was White Sythe, and her partner was of a strength fitting to her own, and she wasn't in the habit of pussyfooting around her problems, she preferred to go straight through them.

"Mega Volcano!" GeoGreymon roared, suddenly pushing Golemmon out to arms length before opening its colossal jaws wide and unleashing a torrent of flame with an intense and crushing force, pushing Golemmon back. Instinctivly, the stone beast tried to escape, pulling to try and break free from GeoGreymon's grip, while the dinosaur pulled back. Eventually the opposing forces reached their natural conclusion, and with a great sound of cracking and tearing Golemmon found its arms ripped from its body as it fell back, no longer restrained.

"Chaaaaaaaaaarge!" Sythe roared, prompting GeoGreymon to do just that.

Throwing the arms aside, GeoGreymon roared before crashing into its wounded foe, who wailed in apparent agony before crashing into, and through, one of the walls. Finding itself upon its back, Golemmon struggled vainly to try and rise while GeoGreymon pushed down upon it, one claw seizing its head and twisting and pulling. Stepping through the wreckage, Sythe smirked at their prone enemy.

"Something like this may have been a deep challenge to Dainya, but you're gonna have to realise Eight that we're much bigger fish."

With a final twist, GeoGreymon wrenched Golemmon's head from its body, causing the stone Digimon to lie still before its data rapidly scattered into the air, the head disintegrating from GeoGreymon's claw while the dinosaur straightened up. With the battle over, the Digimon seemed to abandon his vicious and almost feral attitude for the snide superior tone he normally sported in rookie form.

"So, what now?" It rumbled in a deep voice, each syllable sounding like a small roar.

"Well, way I figure we're in some kinda maze." Sythe replied, taking the time to look up and down the corridors.

"So he wants us to play at lab mice?" GeoGreymon turned his own head, his voice filling the corridor.

"I guess so." Sythe finished twirling with the strength modifier, taking a look back at the wreckage born from the battle. "But since when were we mice?"

"We're gonna knock on the door?" GeoGreymon asked, his tone knowing as he already began to shift into position.

"It would be rude not to." The player grinned.

With another great roar and a thundering crash, GeoGreymon ploughed through the nearest wall, causing dust and stone chips to fly.

"Quickest route between two points is a straight line!" Sythe beamed stepping through beside him.

"I hope it's a short straight line…" The Digimon replied, looking at the wall before him.

"Wuss." Was Sythe only comment.

---

"Well…I'd like to say that was unexpected…"

A flat screen floated in the air, as Eight swept a hand at it, casting it away. The screen had been broadcasting Golemmon's viewpoint, but was now filled with static thanks to his rather brutal execution. Pointing up at another screen, he tipped his hand down, drawing it to eye-level in time to receive an overhead view of GeoGreymon bursting through another wall.

"Well don't you look regal?"

Letting his head roll back, Eight granted himself an upside-down view of Komodomon as the red lizard entered the great chamber. At present, the great hacker was practically lying, sprawled out upon a great wooden throne, his legs draped over one of the arm rests while he lounged against the other, one arm hanging off of it while the other remained hovering in the air, pointing at the cluster of screens that displayed the maze that lay beneath the mansion. Drawing his head back up, he leant it against the broad backboard, returning his attention to the screens.

"And how may I help you Lieutenant Komodomon?" The hacker asked, moving his hand again to switch view points.

"You're deploying a crazy scheme, I wanted to know what was going on." The lizard was blunt, stopping beside the thrown, his eyes roving over the various images. "I'm surprised you didn't break out the slow moving laser and strap them down to a metal table."

"I don't expect them to talk," Eight rolled his wrist around, gesticulating. " But I hardly expect them to die either. So I figured on something nice and…"

"Elaborate?" The red lizard provided, nodding to the screens.

"Well, I just felt the whole 'controlling Digimon' thing had been done to death, I mean, Devimon, the Digimon Emperor…I suppose even Arukenimon…I figured that I should go one up and create a whole dungeon for this little finale."

Komodomon nodded giving off a little 'mmm-hmm' noise.

"You've been planning this thing for months, haven't you?"

"Ever since I first got to look at the mansion." The hacker smiled across.

"So what's this little dungeon of yours got?" Komodomon asked.

"Ah, a chance to impress a veteran." Eight swung his legs around, changing his posture so that he was leaning forward, excited at the opportunity to explain the passion of his creation to one who appreciated the his sculpture. "I went with the classic flagstone look, I know it can seem a bit overdone, but I love the eerie shades you get from those wall torches, not to mention the small shadows cast by the uneven levels in the flagstones."

Komodomon nodded appreciatively, agreeing fully as he looked over the sample images his superior brought up.

"What sort of traps have you got?" Komodomon proceeded to ask, tapping at the screen.

"Well, naturally there are a few boulder drops in there."

"Classic."

The pair shared an excited grin in appreciation of the use of one of an all time favourite.

"I'd prefer to surprise you with the rest though." The hacker admitted, sitting back a little.

"Fair enough." Komodomon raised his claws in pacification. "But you got monsters in there too right?"

"Of course." Eight Ball nodded. "A variety of appropriate fiends, including the most dangerous of all…" Eight took a moment to savour what must have counted as a raised eyebrow from the reptile. "Live players." He smirked.

"I was wondering where Min and the others were." Komodomon chuckled, looking over the screens. "So where are they?"

Giving an 'um', Eight leaned forward and began to flick the screens around, using both hands as he searched for his comrades, giving the hacker a slightly concerned look, Komodomon spoke up again.

"And you did give them a map or something, so they'd know their way around, right?"

Slumping, Eight began to nurse his temples.

"Fudge, bother, walrus…" he began to mutter, while Komodomon shook his head. "FU-Eeep!"

"Watch it…" Komodomon rubbed at his ear-holes, wincing from the harsh reaction of the auto censors.

"Sorry." Eight apologised. "I keep forgetting the boss has the dumb vocal lock on this place." Waving at the layers of screens, he carried on. "In any case, in the end of the day, these low level fools will soon see that I that they're way over their heads."

"Yeah right." Komodomon snorted.

"Oh?" Eight quirked an eyebrow.

"We both know Sythe's and Agumon are tough, but I know that Lupy and Dainya can handle any Swiss Cheese plan you throw at them." The lizard pointed across to the screen where they could be seen walking along, Dainya trailing her hand along the wall.

"Oh? So you have faith in your little stooge?"

"Lupy is my follower, what sort of Aniki would I be if I didn't believe in her." Komodomon fixed his eyes upon the trio. "And if Cait were here, he'd tell you he's got faith in Dainya. They'll beat your dungeon no problem."

"Is that so?" Eight swung his legs back up, draping himself over the throne once more. "So what about the fan boy and the bullet?"

"A bit too variable. Sephy's…a fan boy, but Bulletmon's good."

"So we're going to let ourselves be surprised." Eight nodded, pulling three screens to centre, their images flickering every so often as the camera changed to keep following the separate groups of players as they made, or broke, their way through the maze. Looking to Dainya's screen, Komodomon rubbed at his chin.

"What's with the DemiDevimon though?" The red Digimon asked, tapping the image with his claw.

"No clue." Eight responded with an honest shake of his head. "Sort of just brought it with them…"

"Oh…"

"But it is odd…" The hacker stroked his chin. "It was that little devil dust bunny that led them here…and not just to this mansion…but he took them through my salt path." A screen pulled up before him, displaying what looked like a cloth map of the Del Graveyard, his finger lazily trailing the path they had taken.

"Ah yes…your winding trail of sanctified ground." Komodomon stepped closer to the screen. "It is odd that he would know our private route…"

"So…he's definitely not an ordinary NPC, but still…"

"You'll be watching him." Komodomon smirked.

"Closer than the rest, at least." Eight nodded, re-arranging the screens again. "If I don't know something, it can cause flaws in my plan."

"You cause flaws in your plan." Komodomon gave him a sardonic look.

"I'm sure Min and the others will be fine." Eight huffed.

"And what about you when the boss gets back?" Komodomon tried for a raised eyebrow again.

"The General is never here on Thursday." Eight gave a dismissive wave. "And the Brigadier and Brigadier-General tend to stay away for the whole night if they aren't here to begin with. So, I don't have any reason to worry."

"Don't you remember?" Komodomon turned to fully around to face the Lieutenant-Colonel. "Taomon said he would be on tonight to pass judgement."

There was a moment of silence between the two, the only sound being what leaked from the screens and the sound of Eight's fingers tapping on his forehead.

"Fu-eeeep."

---

Glaring at the wall that stood before him, Sephy kicked it. Had it all been real, it would have hurt, but it wasn't, so he simply kept beating away at it.

"I think this may be the same wall as before Kaiser." Bulletmon proposed as he took a good look at the surrounding stone.

"How can you tell?" Sephy asked, stopping his kicking to look at his partner. "It's all just stone, stone and more stone." A further kick was added for emphasis. "What I wouldn't give for some weird eye trees…" Sephy cast his eyes around the corridor, before leaning in close to one of the torches. "Which is the way out?" The fan-boy whispered to it, giving a glance to his partner before poking the wooden torch and letting out a sigh, kicking the wall once more.

And then one of the flagstones rushed out with the equivalent force of a battering ram, narrowly missing Bulletmon's head thanks only to his short stature.

"Freeze or run?" Sephy looked over to his partner, not even bothering to try and avoid blame for setting the trap off.

"Run." Bulletmon suggested, as further rumblings filled the air and more Flagstones began to stretch out, long stones flying forward to crash into the opposing walls, the pair making sharp stops as they tried to flee, in order to evade the rams. Stumbling, Bulletmon realised what appeared to be a gap in the trap. Not wasting time, the virus grabbed his partner, and pulled him to the floor.

"Kaiser, the rams only seem to be on the higher ones, if we crawl we should be…" The fact that the next ram scraped across Bulletmon's helmet was enough to silence the virus type.

"Screw plans!" Sephy cried, his hand taking on the green glow before going through the familiar motions and special effects.

"Bulletmon Digivolve tooo….DESPERAMON!"

The sound of metal impacting with stone sounded as Desperamon pulled the barrel of his Star Revolver free from its holster and held it as a block against an incoming ram, it resisted for a moment before withdrawing. Swiftly, the gunman pulled his partner under one arm and made a mad dash along the corridor, hoping to eventually run free of the mad trap. No more were the motions jumpy, but rather precise and swift as Desperamon would skid, jump, slide, and vault to maintain momentum and avoid damage, eventually getting clear of the danger zone and into a new T junction.

"That was close Kaise…" Bulletmon was interrupted once again, as he was now sent spinning and bouncing along the flagstones by a weighty armoured claw. Reflexively, he curled aroundSephy, releasing him only when they had come to a halt. Rising, the two caught sight of their new foe.

"Strike…Claw." It almost grunted, lowering its outstretched arm.

It was reminiscent of Flamedramon, with its humanoid shape, tri-claws, and blue scale tone, but the similarities fell short there. It wore little armour, only studded gauntlets around its claws, bound by leather straps, studded pauldrons and a cap for the tip of its tail, as well as metal bindings covering the front of its snout, with a black under base that led to a point stretched back beyond the head. In final elements of style, a shock of spiky red hair poked down from under the back of the helm, a strange glyph was tattooed in red upon its white chest, and it wore a large baggy pair of olive combat trousers.

** Strikedramon**

**Level: Champion**

**Type: Vaccine**

**Attacks: **Strike Fang, Strike Claw, Strike Barrage.

With the scan on, Sephy's face was lit up by the glow as he read the details. The small part of his mind capable of brilliant tactics was lamenting the lack of useful details, the rest of his mind spoke through his mouth.

"Desperamon! Blow this punk away!"

"Star Revolver!" Desperamon replied, swinging his gun arm into firing position and loosing a triad of shots as his opponent rushed forward.

"Strike Fang!" It roared, blue flames coating its body as it met the shots head on, the bullets rebounding against his charge and impacting with the side walls, scattering dust and stone fragments before the bizarre lizard tackled Desperamon, causing them both to crash further down the hall.

"Wh…Oy! Wait up!" Sephy cried, running in pursuit.

Separating, the two Digimon became caught up in melee combat as soon as they separated, Strikedramon pushing his advantage in close-range against his distance-preferring opponent. Desperamon's greatest strength, as is fitting for a gunslinger, is his reaction time. It was largely thanks to this that Strikedramon hadn't been able to beat him to death yet, the practically berserker vaccine found its claws ringing out again and again against the barrel of the Star Revolver, Desperamon wielding it almost as if it were a staff to counter the blows of his opponent.

"Strike Barrage!" It roared, blue flames wrapping around its body once more as the rain of kicks and punches increased, the noise of steel meeting steel rang in their ears as the corridor continued to reflect and echo the din of discord around the combatants, Desperamon struggling to keep up.

"Stat-Modifier! Speed up!" Sephy called, swiping the blue disc through.

With Desperamon taking on the blue glow, the duelling pair became almost indistinguishable as they moved. On the defensive, Desperamon had one advantage in that he was able to grow used to the method of Strikedramon's attacks. As the dragon warrior made to strike with a left straight, the gun slinging virus pushed Star Revolver's barrel into the air, so that it hung for the briefest of moments vertically before his right palm, his left arm pulling back, his metal fist clenching. Sure enough, Strikedramon's straight collided with the gun barrel, which slammed back into the ready palm, but rather than push back and block, Desperamon allowed the barrel to tip, the force it received sending it spinning back beyond him and allowing Strikedramon to swiftly line up his next attack, his footing shifting to allow him to preform a right straight, just as Desperamon predicted, his own footing changing as he swung his left arm forward.

"Revolver Knuckle!" he cried, fist meeting claw, the sound of it buried under the loud crack that was normally associated with the Star Revolver, but instead provided Desperamon's fist with explosive force, the two combantants sliding apart from one another. Glancing up, Desperamon pushed back to propel himself further, left arm rising as Sephy caught on, a red disc pulled from his coat as Desperamon raised his arm.

"Stat Modifier!" he called, just as the gun barrel clicked into place. "Power Up!"

"Star Revolver!" The blue glow looking more purple now as red swiftly covered Desperamon, the gunslinger unleashed his salvo, faster and more powerful than the first thanks to the two power ups.

Caught off guard, Strikedramon was only able to make out the first syllable of its 'Strike Fang' attack before the three bullets connected, the explosive force of their impact knocking it off its feet.

"Good, good. Fight one good, but fight two?"

Acting on reflex, Desperamon whirled, crying 'Quick Draw!' as he pulled free the small revolver kept hidden beneath his coat, the bullet flying towards the origin of the taunt only to be intercepted by a beam of light. Sabre drawn, Lobomon stood before Mowgli, having perfectly intercepted the attack, the wild styled officer of the Nightmare Soldiers smirked while his partner fixed cold eyes upon Desperamon, who in turn kept his guns fixed upon both opponents, his head making only slight movements to allow his single eye to twitch back and forth, staying ready.

"Oh boop." Sephy moaned.

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**Raven: **There's this thing I have. I don't like talking about stuff when there's nothing to talk about. Now, don't get me wrong, I could tell you plenty about Guild Wars' latest expansion coming out in two weeks, or Bioshock in five days, or the new Yugioh booster set, or my lack of ability to buy Megaman Star Force. But none of these involve Digimon, which is what you are all here for. So I'm going to answer a very challenging question placed by Dragonchad involving the battle system in this game world. Needless to say, we can't really answer it, because Bandai is still working on the system, but we should have something by the closed beta.

I kid, I kid. Honestly, the system is kinda simple. Both Digimon and partner have HP. If a Digimon's HP reaches 0, the partner will have to go back to a save spot and re-load their last saved data of their partner, kinda like a game over in Dot.Hack without being exited to the title screen. However, the digimon loses some of its Data Points (experience), so if you're not careful, you can wind up with a Digimon reverting back to an egg. If a partner's HP hits 0, they are teleported back to the Root Town and lose some cash, similar to Pokemon. Now, when a team destroys an enemy PvE Digimon, the Digimon's Data is absorbed and added to the Digimon's Data Points. Same with PvP, some of the Data Points are take from the loser and given to the winner (similar to Digimon Frontier, when Takuya took Gigasmon and Kazemon's Fractal Code, Gumblemon was still there, only weaker from losing two of his Spirits). There are also "Friendly Matches" in PvP, unrated battles where no Data Points are at stake.

Hope that explained things. And now, I go to eat pizza.

**Keyo:** So much went right with this chapter, and then so much went wrong, but for the first time in ages we're on schedule.

I finished this on Wedensday, and sent it to Raven…who wasn't on until Friday, and I couldn't get online Thursday because my Internet went all funny! And then what was to be the start of Chapter 20 became the end of this one!

Then we got it sorted and Crazy Eight was a marvel and sorted out the notes in about a half-hour. So big thanks, without him we really can't get the full quality into this thing. So in return, I continue to pimp his work! You really should be reading it all by now.

As short as GeoGreymon vs Golemmon was, it was kinda fun to write. It's good to work with some nice big Kaiju Film style monsters.

I'm going to end with a quote today from Crazy Eight's notes regarding our favourite hacker.

" (For an evil genius, Eight Ball can be such a moron… XD)"


	20. Chapter 20

**Keyo:** Otesnay areay inay theay ormalnay lacepays. Digimon belongs to Bandai, fan cast to us, and the world to Emperor Zurg!

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Chapter 20: Raid! Pt4

All we need now is Minotaurmon.

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Tumbleweed would have been right at home in the maze at this moment as Despereramon slid his blue eye back and forth, the amber glint of the torches giving the dark sapphire orb an appearance of sunset, or perhaps dawn, far more appropriate for a standoff such as this. With his eyes fixed on the form of the wild lieutenant, Sephy held his digivice tight in one hand, his other held in a quick-draw fashion to one side, ready to pluck a stat modifier disc from his omnipresent item collection, his opponent mirrored his arched stance, running his tongue across his bottom lip in anticipation.

"I guess this is where someone says 'make my day, punk.'" Eight Ball grinned as he watched the scene on the monitor, drumming his fingers upon the armrest of the throne.

"I thought you were freaking out?" Komodomon asked from where he leant on the other rest.

"Their tension is more dramatic and interesting." The hacker responded. "Besides, if I manage to settle all this before the General gets here I'm in the clear right?"

Shaking his head, the red lizard returned his attention to their feature presentation, where, as with all tense build-ups, things finally reached breaking point. If they were to try and work out what started it all, they would never find it, even with the typically 20x20 of hindsight. The most likely source was a wrong twitch on someone's part before everything exploded into motion.

"Stat modifier! Speed up!" Sephy and Mowgli cried out, swiping their discs through their

digivices, as in that same moment the Digimon acted.

"Star Revolver, Quick Draw!" Desperamon cried almost redundantly, as both guns had their hammers swinging, setting the bullets loaded in their chambers flying. To his credit, he also preformed an impressive pivot, swinging his body around in the moment before the first shots so that the more powerful Star Revolver was firing at Lobomon, while the faster Quick Draw was aiming for Strikedramon.

"Licht Sieger!" Lobomon cried as he dashed forward, both blades ignited as the shots flew at him. Twisting in mid-step, the wolf-warrior evaded one strike, rolled under the next, but was forced to bring his blades up in a cross guard for the third, where experience held true and the bullet detonated, knocking him back off his feet and halting his charge.

However, Strikedramon was not to be denied. As the battle snapped once more into motion he had summoned his blue flames once more and roared 'Strike Fang' as he hurled himself in his berserker state towards the viral gunman, Lobomon falling in time to allow him to pivot once more and swing his gun barrel up as a guard, the hard metal of the Star Revolver's barrel preventing the attack from achieving its full impact, but the sound of metal scraping stone was as clear as the sparks around Desperamon's feet as he was forced backwards. The moment Strikedramon lost the momentum of his Strike Fang, the flames subsiding, he swung his metal coated claw up through Depseramon's guard, crying 'Strike Claw' as he made contact, knocking his opponent further off guard before spinning and unleashing a standard kick the bowled him over, sprawling him out on the flagstones.

"Licht Sieger!" Lobomon's twin blades swung down to impale Desperamon's supposedly prone figure, the virus rolling out the way just in time as a yellow glow took over his body, mixing with the blue.

"Stat-Modifier! Defence Up!" Sephy cried, momentarily using his head, and sadly, his only defence modifier.

Boosted slightly by the statistic improver, Desperamon pushed himself swiftly off the ground, getting a little distance between himself and his licht kendo blade-wielding opponent. Star Revolver swung up, but before it could fire Strikedramon swept in, slamming his claw into the barrel, causing the shot to go wide and impact against the far wall as Lobomon rushed in, reaching the pair just as Desperamon was able to pull out his Quick Draw, one blade sweeping the gun safely out the way before the second blade struck a glancing blow, followed by another 'Strike Claw' as the pair once more sent Desperamon tumbling across the floor.

"Desperamon!" Sephy called, looking up from the discs he fumbled through, unable to find anything that could sufficiently tip the scales in their favour, they quite simply lacked the experience and strength to fight two foes on such a level, and it almost hurt the boy to see his partner struggle to rise. Relatively, he hadn't been playing long, but like Dainya was attached to the collection of algorithms that made up his ally in this world, and he was so used to seeing Desperamon leap to his feet that it was a shock to see him down like this. For the first time, the boy's eyes were forced open to how green he actually was.

"Strike Fang!" Strikedramon called, becoming that deadly lance of blue flames once more, bathing the walls of the Labyrinth in an eerie blue as he swept through to deliver the finishing blow. The light of the attack was reflected in Desperamn's single eye before it was suddenly quenched by a torrent of water, the charge of the virus buster halted as suddenly as it began.

"What?" Mowgli looked down into the gloom, trying to spot the source of the assault, Lobomon shifting into a defensive stance, crystal eyes flicking between Desperamon and the corridor.

"I didn't do it." Sephy almost yelled on instinct as Mowgli quickly gave him a primal glance, his attention snatched back to the gloom as a rather mad sounding voice sung out.

"Aquari Pressure!"

Jets of water burst sped out like living bullets, Lobomon twisting and ducking to avoid being hit by the barrage, but once more found himself being forced to block, and once more finding it ineffective as the jets become concentrated, forming a solid force that pushed him back and away from Desperamon. As the jets came to a halt, a dark red object suddenly fly down the corridor, slamming into Lobomon and taking him off his feet. The figure then lept off of its mount and grasping its long shaft, slammed it into the wolf warrior in order to force him to join Strikedramon on the floor.

"Ah…you disappoint me Lobomon." The red clad figure grinned, using one oversized hand to sweep spider silk hair back over her shoulder, the other swinging her mount and/or weapon up to rest on shoulders. "I finally get my claws into you and it's all over so fast, you really don't know how to satisfy-yow!" Whirling, the Digimon nursed the back of her head while glaring at the figure emerging from the shadows. "Min! That was a rock, wasn't it!?"

"Your jokes were threatening to go a bit over PG-13." The grey-witch styled player warned.

"Since when do I care about that bullsh-eeep!" Witchmon cursed, everyone in the corridor wincing as the high-pitched censor went off.

"The boss cares." Min nodded sagely, marking the auto-censor as proof. "So I can't let you try and sneak around those principles.

"Old fuddy, duddy, hag…" Witchmon muttered, before yelping as she suddenly found her cheeks being stretched by her irate partner.

"I'll give you 'hag' you pixelated punk!" Min growled in her assault, the ensuing struggle causing the bell upon Witchmon's hat to ring incessantly as the others gathered stared on in shock and confusion, but mostly confusion. Naturally, it was Sephy who interrupted the pair's feud and brought them back to the present, by the natural means of opening his big mouth.

"Oy, hag!" Was his great diplomatic proclamation, before almost jumping back and into the wall as Min, quick as flash, appeared before him, glaring down at the boy.

"Don't you start brat!" She glowered. "I'm still young and beautiful at 25 and don't you forget it!"

"Okay." Sephy almost cowered. Digital or not, Min looked scary enough right now that he didn't want to take his chances with a pseudo-hit.

"Jeez, I go to all the helping you out and you're still a rude little brat." Min straightened up and stretched out, trying to ease the tension her temper had caused.

"What you doing Min?" Mowgli challenged, standing by his now risen partner. "Eight Ball say to fight."

"Eight can go take some RAM up his USB-Port." Min snorted, turning her piercing eyes upon her fellow officer. "Cait's my CO, not him."

"Eight Ball still Lieuten Colnul." Mowgli huffed, his proclamation no less serious sounding for its mispronunciation.

"Eight ball still idiot." Min sighed. "There is no way General Stoker would have authorized this, this…fiasco!" She waved her arms in agitation at the walls, cloth fluttering as she did so. "And I will not stand idly by and allow that socially inept freak to go on a villainistic ego trip! Next thing you know he'll be wanting to kidnap a princess!"

Sliding his eyes to Witchmon, who currently seemed to be picking her nose in boredom, muttering about how 'villainistic' wasn't a word, Mowgli opted to appeal to her.

"Witchmon, you make sense?" Was the best phrasing he could come up with.

"Sorry wolf-cub." The witch gave a sly grin, inspecting her claw end before flicking away whatever she had unearthed. "But you know me, I don't care who the scrap is with, as long as it gets me pumping."

Standing now, Desperamon gave his savior an odd look; bewilderment painted on his face, which only increased as Witchmon noticed him and blew him a cheeky kiss.

"So how we doing this hun?" The crimson witch swung her broom back down and leant against it. "The boring way or the fun way."

Lobomon's blades re-ignited and he rushed forward, causing Witchmon and Min to smile, 'The fun way' almost painted upon their grins.

"Poison Storm!" Witchmon called as Min grabbed Sephy by his collar and pulled him back behind their Digimon, just in time to avoid being caught in the large toxic cloud that seemed to be poring out from Witchmon's outstretched hands, rapidly filling the corridor, Lobomon digging his claws in as he pulled himself to a stop, before taking small leaps back in fear of the venomous nimbus.

Strikedramon lacked such self-preservation.

With a wild cry the virus buster through himself into the noxious gas, his body and life losing vitality to its power before bursting clear on the other side, face to face with the dark hole of a gun barrel.

"Star Revolver." Escaped Desperamon's lips as the first shot was unleashed, slamming into Strikedramon with explosive force, knocking him back into the poison storm. Off balance, it was simple for Desperamon to release more and more shots into his opponent, his posture straight and his manner reserved as he did so.

As soon as he fell back out of the clouds, Lobomon moved to assist, only to be cut off by a stream of water from Witchmon's Aquari Pressure, the witch herself bursting through the cloud, pulling it along behind her, courtesy of the great control afforded to her by her power, Lobomon once more darting back to avoid contamination. With the light warrior cut off, Witchmon whirled in the air, cackling madly as she lined up behind Strikedramon and unleashed yet another Aquari Pressure, the deadly streams lancing into his back and causing his guard to complete fall apart.

"Finish him!" Sephy cried in excitement as Desperamon spun his gun barrel around, the chambers reloaded before leveling the weapon.

"Dead end shot…" The words swept coolly from his hidden lips as the gun barrel drew level, the perfect image of the Wild West hero. "Star Revolver!" he cried, the gun hammer slaming down and the shot exploding from the barrel, bursting through Strikedramon's chest and leaving a glimmer edged hole in its wake as the virus buster seemed to struggle to breathe before collapsing into data bits, parts of which were drawn into the witch and gunman as experience points.

"Now to turn that wolf into my bi…uh?" Witchmon's cackling joviality turned into confusion as she turned to her poison cloud prison, now waning enough in the maze's enigmatic air condition to allow her to see Lobomon was no longer trapped behind it.

"Traitor!" Mowgli called, snapping the groups attention to where he stood with a rather sick looking Lobomon, who after a burst of icy light, became a rather sick looking Strabimon. "Eight Ball not take sorry. Stuck too are you." Swinging his arm out, he thumped a stone in the wall, causing a sudden rumbling before he vanished behind a wall that slid up from the ground, other walls around them and throughout the maze rumbled and shifted as the layout changed.

"Damn that was sneaky." Min scuffed at the ground, taking in the new layout. "Now everything I memorized about this place is useless."

With a sigh, Witchmon allowed the light of devolution to surround her, as Desperamon let out a more exhausted one as they both returned to their rookie forms, the now DemiDevimon powered herself with a few swift flaps and came to settle upon Min's hat. Giving Sephy a sidelong glance, the small devil bat smirked.

"Aw, the little brat is confused." She chuckled, fanning herself with one wing.

Spending a few moments blinking, the goggle wearing player tried to absorb what had just happened, even taking a moment to scratch his chin in focus before finally caving and asking for an explanation.

"What the he-eep just happened!?"

---

Another wall crashed down, the thundering noise doubled as GeoGreymon too dropped down, lying flat upon the rubble, head clutched within his claws.

"No more, no more." The dinosaur's begging sounded odd, given the rough baritone quality of his voice, but it was no less sincere.

"It's only been, what…" Sythe paused as she stepped through the gap, turning her head to look back upon the trail of destruction they had created. "Twenty odd walls." Looking back around to her partner she sighed at the pleading green eye that gazed up at her, before lifting up her digivice. "Fine you big baby." With a click, she trigged the devolution, the colossal dinosaur fading away into a smaller one, sitting flat on his backside with his oversized head still clutched in his claws.

Deciding to ignore her partner and his grumbling for now, Sythe took stalk of the corridor they were currently standing in. It didn't take long, it was the same as every other corridor they had ploughed through. She considered briefly that it would be a nightmare to write about, but maybe monotony was an intentional part of a maze, it made it easier to get confused and lost. It was then a rumbling noise filled the air, causing her to spin quickly, searching for the source of what seemed to be an omnipresent noise, movement caught her eye as she glimpsed down the path her partner had forcefully created, seeing a wall rise and fill in one of the gaps.

"Damn…and I was just thinking about how confusing this place could be." She grumbled, before smiling to her partner. "But at least we have our straightforward strategy…"

The flagstones beneath their feet shone, and for a brief moment they, along with the scattered rubble, were lifted into the air before vanishing along with the light, a 'voip' noise marking their departure, another 'voip' heralded their arrival as a new light shone out from the stones, Sythe, Agumon and the rubble fading into existence about a foot from the ground before sinking back to the earth.

"…right." Sythe finished, apparently undisturbed by the sudden change in location, the scenery near identical however.

"This little teleportation doesn't worry you?" Agumon asked, pulling himself to his feet.

"We're breaking down walls, not making a map, all we gotta do is to keep moving forward until we find the exit." In one motion, she flipped her digivice into her hand. "Speaking of which…"

Giving a reluctant sigh, Agumon uttered the familiar chant of countless digivolutions before finding himself once more a good many feet taller.

"High, ho Silver!" Sythe cried, once more dramatically pointing out to the nearest wall.

"Groah!" GeoGreymon roared, once more resuming their 'plan.'

---

"It's simple enough really." Min explained as she walked along beside Sephy, DemiDevimon upon her hat while Bulletmon followed close by his partner. "The top ranks of the Nightmare Soldiers are Brigadier, Brigadier-General, and General, with General being the highest."

Sephy nodded with furrowed brow and crossed arms, Min had been trying to explain her motivation to the youth since they had moved on from the battlefield, and she had proven to be as patient with her explanations as she was impatient with his bad manners.

"Below them are…well, were, the four Colonels, but recently myself, Major Mowgli and Lieutenant-Colonels Cait and Eight Ball having been filling in."

Sephy nodded again, opting not to ask any questions in order to prevent any unnecessary confusion.

"If one of the higher-ups is unavailable, then the next rank down has responsibility for keeping everything running. At present, all three of the top aren't available, so responsibility defers…" Sephy's brow furrowed further. "…goes to,"Min amended. "Eight. But he's abusing the position to try and warp matters regarding you and your friends to the outcome he desires."

"So you're helping us because…" Sephy rolled the information around in his head. Bulletmon gave him a sympathetic glance as the boy tried to put everything in its place while DemiDevimon simply rolled her eyes.

"Because I don't believe the General would want this to be done." Min answered.

"And while Mowgli works directly under that ego-fiend upstairs," the witch co-player glanced up at the stone ceiling. "my direct superior is Cait, and I know he wouldn't want Dainya to be stuck in a place like this…maybe you… but definitely not her and Lupmon."

"Oy…" Sephy grumbled, glancing up at the taller player.

"Don't worry, I full intend to help you out of this hellhole." Min reassured him.

"Who says we need help, me and Bulletmon can do fine on our own." Sephy huffed, pride instinctively taking over.

"Kaiser…" Bulletmon sighed, a reaction that was enough to cool Sephy a little as he remembered how lost they had been.

"Sorry…" He grumbled, almost inaudible.

"What was that?" Min asked, sadism dripping from her voice.

"I said sorry, okay…yeesh…" Sephy exclaimed, going a little red. "Act like you never heard a guy apologise before." He continued to grumble.

Bearing a satisfied smirk, Min watched as Bulletmon tried to calm his partner, before giving a small chuckle and turning her eyes back to the path before them. Temple raiding was one of her specialities, and she instinctively looked for signs of a trap trigger, she'd set off a pair already and it was clear that Eight Ball had been cracking the books and Indiana Jones films when making this place and she didn't want to run into a spiky pit fall trap.

---

"Oops."

Dainya froze as Lupmon accidentally set off a click, the Digimon remaining still, as if it would keep the trap from activating.

"Oh dear." DemiDevimon sighed as the sound of moving gears and cords began to trundle through the corridor, followed by a large resounding 'clunk' and then a rattling noise as if the previous sounds were playing out in reverse, fast. And then, quite naturally, large rotating saw blades emerged from between the stones and raced towards the group.

"On monkey." Dainya uttered, before she and her companions broke into a mad dash, complete with screaming, in the opposing direction of the saw blades.

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**Raven: **It's that time again. Time to reveal today's lesson, and to learn today's lesson, we turn to…the Wheel of Morality! Wheel of Morality, turn turn turn, tell us the lesson that we should learn!

Five kudos bars to whoever got that. For anyone who did get it, you'll be happy to know that the voice actor for the thick-headed white labrat is voice acting as yet another thick-headed white labrat named Vekk in Guild Wars: Eye of the North. The smart one, not the retarded one, though I think the retarded one might have sounded better with Vekk's size.

But you didn't come here to listen to Guild Wars did you? No, you came to watch yet another decent Digimon chapter. It's not really one of our best, but I was downright happy with the idea of adding the classic teleporter maze, most commonly known in Sabrina's gym in that other pet monster games. Things are starting to turn into a regular Soul Society arc, aren't they? Only the villain is very much alive, and in as much impending doom as the main characters.

**Keyo: **This is the first week that all the primary schools and high schools have been back and the first time I wasn't automatically booked in to work all week, so you think this chapter would have been done on time and been smack full of awesome.

But on Tuesday my muse took time off, I got writer's block, and anything I tried to write was total cack. Then on Wednesday I was in Glasgow visiting a friend all day, and then I was in Edinburgh all Thursday visiting another friend so pretty much all of this was written on Friday and only recently edited, touched up and sealed with a loving kiss.

But Min and Demi are back, so I'm happy. Trouble is stirring as the Nightmare soldiers become divided and the maze begins to release some of its more deadlier and confusing tricks.

For those lamenting over the lack of deep plot development, it's coming, I promise. Remember this is an original story following the full Digimon style, so I'm kinda honour-bound to put in some cool fights and explosions.

On a side note, I recently contacted Dell about replacing my 'h' key, and they told me I'd need to order a whole new inner board which would cost me in excess of £120.

Yah…not doing that…

Anyhoo…Take care, and see you next chapter!

Keyo & Raven 


	21. Chapter 21

**Raven: **Keyo, what's the word count?

**Keyo: **IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAAAND!!!

**Raven:** …

**Keyo:** I've wanted to do that since I started work on this. All notes are in their usual place and all property belongs to its proper people.

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Chapter 21: Raid (pt 5)

Light at the end of the Labyrinth.

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"Phew, that was close." Dainya released a relieved sigh as the saw blades blurred by, apparently unable to turn corners, an ability that had allowed Dainya and her companions to escape a rather sudden end to their campaign.

"I'm rather impressed that we were able to maintain our lead for so long." DemiDevimon contributed, taking roost upon Lupmon's head.

"Actually, I was referring to my Mom. I was sure she'd come running after I screamed like that."

After letting what she'd said sink in, Dainya began to chuckle at her sense of priorities and concerns. Had she really been in mortal danger, the thought of someone rushing in would have been a welcome relief, but given the actual scenario, her mother's appearance would probably have come with the advice-like order to go to bed. Placing her hand once more upon the wall, Dainya smiled at her digital cohorts.

"Shall we carry on then guys?" She asked, the Digimon nodding their agreement, Lupmon taking once again to padding along at Dainya's side while DemiDevimon chose to remain on the wolf's head.

With relative peace restored, Dainya allowed her thoughts to return to exactly what she planned to do here. She could hardly plan to break through and defeat every member of the organization, growing successively stronger until facing off against their master like in some shonen action manga story, but she had hardly come equipped with a great diplomatic speech, and to say 'she just wanted to see Cait' made her sound like one of those dopey heroines from a shoujo action manga who fall in love with the villain.

'Maybe I can play it out like one of those cop dramas.' She thought to herself. 'Burst in and be all like 'I want answers!' Be all, kick ass and chew gum style…' A twinkle entered Dainya's eyes as she began to envision herself as the hard-cop, trench coat and boots, striking fear into the heart of the criminal underworld with her relentless efforts and unbending iron will.

Then she walked into a wall.

"Gah!" She exclaimed, 'ow' being redundant as pain was impossible, but frustration very much so.

"Day-dreaming, in a place like this? My, you are dedicated." DemiDevimon chuckled, Lupmon joining in on instinct, despite her usual lack of understanding.

Dainya turned a bit red before taking over emphasised strides past the sniggering pair, quite rightfully embarrassed as she resumed trailing her hand along the wall. She couldn't believe she had let her mind wander like that, this was a serious scenario and it had been getting her down all day, it made her feel rather guilty to have become distracted by so silly a fantasy. Taking a look behind her, she could see Lupmon, face turned upward, asking DemiDevimon her usual barrage of questions about all things, which DemiDevimon answered with a patience not normally associated with his kind. Letting her thoughts wander a little once more, Dainya remarked again on how amazing this game was, once again failing to understand how anyone could want to try and ruin it all, it just didn't make any sense.

'Maybe,' She wondered. 'I should be handling this in a shonen adventure style.' But then she remembered Cait and Min's vague comments regarding it all, as if there was something to it all that was a lot more complicated than could be resolved by simply beating up the bad-guy. 'Not the Sythe probably sees it that way.' She thought of the rather aggressively styled player.

Her thoughts simultaneously turned to her absent companions as she turned the next corner, only to release a loud squeak of an 'eep', before ducking back around, her back flat against the wall in full dramatic fashion.

"What's goin' on Dainya?" Lupmon directed her latest, and most relevant, question to her partner.

"Shhhhhh!" Dainya pushed her finger to her lips, before motioning for the pair to join her.

As a group, they all stuck their heads around the corner, taking it slowly and cautiously enough for it to almost be comical. Looking along the corridor they could see a very large Digimon, its bulk filling a good portion of the labyrinth's passageway as it slowly stomped around. Every so often it would swing its big bull like head, complete with brass nose ring, around, before taking a few more stomping steps with its great booted feet. It's pelt looked to be clothing rather than part of its body, a subtle clue lying in how it hung around the lower jaw, exposing pink flesh, a more blatant clue being the large zipper that ran up the front of its body. If one were to look past the fact it was a giant bull of doom, the most noticeable thing about it would be the odd jackhammer like device that substituted its left hand.

** Name: Minotaurmon **

**Type: Virus**

**Level: Ultimate**

**Attacks: **Earthquake Drill, Matador Attack.

"I shouldn't be surprised, not really." Dainya muttered to herself as she slid her Digivice back onto her belt. "I mean, this is a labyrinth, why shouldn't there be a minotaur?" She gave the large ultimate level another glance. "Why does their have to be a minotaur?" She moaned.

"Miss Dainya, I think we may have another problem." DemiDevimon intruded upon her thoughts, drawing the girl's attention to the growling Lupmon. In that moment, Lupmon made to run at Minotaurmon, her combat instincts taking over, but was thankfully restrained as Dainya seized the belted collar around her partners neck, DemiDevimon too pulled back at the wolf's fur, flapping his wings to try and keep her back around the corner.

"We can't fight that Lupmon!" Dainya almost hissed as she tried to control her partner, who seemed to ignore her, continuing to try and break away and charge this apparent enemy.

"Miss Lupmon!" DemiDevimon hissed through his efforts.

A loud snorting noise suddenly caught their attention, and while they kept their tight grip upon Lupmon, DemiDevimon and Dainya turned their attention back around to Minotaurmon, who was making a great display of waving his nose in the air, snorting loudly.

"It can smell us?" Dainya burst out in a loud whisper.

"It certain has a big enough nose." DemiDevimon lamented.

With a final, long, dragging, nasal inhalation, the great body of beef turned to face the corner the trio were doing a terrible job of hiding behind. With what sounded like a cross between a moo and a roar (which was both appropriate, and oddly terrifying) the monster began rampant dash towards the group, its great muscled arms swinging as each step sounded like a small explosion. Naturally, matters got worse when Lupmon broke free and began to race towards her adversary on all fours, her feral growl drowned out by Minotaurmon's charge, blue light wrapped around the wolf as Dainya instinctively went for her Digivice.

"Lupmon Digivolve to…LYKIOMON!" The words sounding more like a battle cry than anything else as the large canine bounded forward, speed increased thanks to stronger limbs, before throwing herself into the air. "Spiral Fang!"

"Earthquake Drill!" Minotaurmon responded, its metal hand swinging up and meeting Lykiomn's attack dead on. For a brief moment there was a grinding noise before a sound like 'crack-thoom' as the metal hammer shuddered, the piston blasting out and repelling the wolf with such force that she flew back down the distance she had covered in her galloping charge and impacted with the far wall before crumpling to the ground.

"Lykiomon!" Dainya rushed to her partner's side, cradling the wolf's head in her lap as she began to panic. "C'mon Lykiomon, get up." She pleaded.

"Shleeepeee…" Lykiomon droned, her eyes rolling around and up.

"Waaauuurrrghhh!" Minotaurmon roared in triumph, waving its arms in the air in celebration, causing Dainya to look up before scouring her disc collection, praying that at some point she had picked up a healing disc and had simply forgotten about it.

"Excuse me!" DemiDevimon flew by Dainya's head, spending a few moments hovering over Lykiomon's body before giving himself a small nod, a large syringe appearing in one of his claws. "Demi Dart!" He called, plunging the needle into the wolf.

"What are you doing?" Dainya panicked.

"These darts can boost a Digimon, as well as drain them." The devil bat explained as Lykiomon began to stir. "I can't give her too many though."

With what sounded more like a grumble, than a growl, Lykiomon rose shakily to her feet. For once, the champions eyes were round and clear, the force of Minotaurmon's blow having knocked her senses back into place.

"Daiiinya." She whined. "That really, really hurt."

"I think it's going to hurt more soon." DemiDevimon settled on the player's shoulder, pointing one wing back towards Minotaurmon, who was now crouching and scuffing at the ground with one foot, preparing to charge.

"Lykiomon!" Dainya drew back her partner's attention, while climbing up onto her back.

"Yes?" Lykiomon asked, head tipped up and sounding ludicrously innocent and calm.

"RUN!" Dainya spared little emphasis in giving the instruction, and Lykiomon needed no second bidding. With her partner clinging tightly onto the wolf's studded collar, Lykiomon broke into a fresh gallop, hurtling back along the way they had come.

"MATADOR ATTACK!" Minotaurmon bellowed, charging behind them in a rather classic bull fashion.

Still clinging to Dainya's shoulder, DemiDevimon released one claw for a moment hurl a Demi-Dart back, only to watch it harmlessly bounce off of Minotaurmon's super thick hide.

"It was worth a try." He gave in way of explanation once his full grip was re-established.

And the chase drew on, both moving too fast to try and turn safely as they raced along the corridor. Once they came to a forced turn, and Lykiomon had to rebound off the walls, bouncing around in order to avoid a crash, Minotaurmon wasn't so agile, and his effort to turn left him grinding against the wall, chipping and scraping parts away as it relentlessly continued its pursuit.

Things looked to be heading towards a perpetual pursuit until a rumbling began to fill the air and walls began moving around them. Specifically up ahead where one was growing from the ground. Lykiomon needed no prompting as she gave a push to accelerate, leaping up and through the narrowing gap, tumbling upon the other side as she crashed back down, her passengers rolling off in the process. With a small flash, the large wolf shrank back down to a very tired looking smaller one, the energising boost from the Demi-Dart having now worn off.

"Oooh…so tired…" Lupmon whined, lying flat on her back, her bright pink tongue hanging out of her mouth as she panted.

Dainya gave a smile towards her partner the was swiftly ruined as the wall exploded, Minotaurmon bursting through, carrying on undaunted, not stopping until he realised that his prey was no longer before him. Coming to a halt, the great Digimon took a few moments to lumber around, before finally looking back the ways, finding Dainya and DemiDevimon gazing up at it with slack jaws, and Lupmon nearly unconscious upon the ground.

"Oh snap." Dainya whispered as Mintaurmon raised his Jackhammer in the air, preparing to smash it into the ground, only to be body-checked into the sidewall of the corridor as its opposite collapsed, GeoGreymon bursting through and inadvertently tackling the virus.

"Finally!" Sythe exclaimed as she climbed through the rubble. "Something that isn't a wall!"

"Sythe!" Dainya exclaimed in relief, picking herself up and running towards the white clad player.

"Dainya! Hi!" Sythe waved, oddly cheery as her partner began to wrestle with Minotaurmon, the dinosaur being large enough to equal its opponent in size. Turning to her partner, she proceeded to perform her own scan of Minotaurmon, her face scrunching up a little at what she saw. "GeoGreymon, don't play around, this guy's tough!" Sythe warned, pulling out a disc. "Take him down, fast! Stat Modifier! Power Up!"

The disc slashed through, GeoGreymon's red glow was renewed, his body shuddering as he once more allowed himself to lose ground while charging his attack.

"MEGA-VOLCANO!" He roared, unleashing the super torrent of flames upon the ultimate level foe, who cried out its response.

"MATADOR ATTACK!"

As if undisturbed by the eruption of fire, Minotaurmon lunged forward, ramming its head against that of GeoGreymon, cutting off the dinosaur's attack before slamming its horned head down again, and again, and again, GreyGreymon eventually crumpling under the repeated assault, Minotaurmon letting him fall to his knees before raising up its massive jackhammer.

"Earthquake…GROAAA!" It wailed suddenly, dropping its metal hand down and clutching at one eye with the flesh one.

"Bull's-eye!" Desperamon quipped, his Star Revolver levelled at the beast.

"You're nothing but trouble kid."

"M-Min!" Dainya stuttered as the witch-a-like stepped up along side the gunman, Demi perched upon her hat and Sephy in tow.

"Don't get us wrong, we're only in this for the blood." Demi quipped, before receiving a rebuking blow from her partner. "Fine, fine I am. Though I'm curious as to where you found such good looking company." She gestured to DemiDevimon, who had reclaimed his place upon Dainya's shoulder. "But enough talk…Min?"

Smirking, the Nightmare Soldier officer drew out her Digivice, the wine red light pouring into it as Demi left her perch.

"DemiDevimon digivolve to…"

"Earthquake Drill!" Minotaurmon roared, slamming the jack-hammer into the ground and triggering the disaster that lent its name to the attack as the floor was torn apart by the force.

"Witchmon!" The evolved Digimon finished, sailing clear over the ground based attack, Desperamon reaching its right hand up and grabbing a hold of the broom, evading the assault as Witchmon pulled him higher into the air as the raced towards their foe.

"Star Revolver!" He called, swinging the barrel up and firing round after round into Minotaurmon's body, only for the shots to bounce harmlessly off of its thick pelt.

"Matador Attack!" Minotarumon rushed forward again, Witchmon and Desperamon responding with Aquari Pressure and Star Revolver, but finding no success in slowing the charge. With Minotaurmon's bulk leaving no room to dodge around the beast, Witchmon turned as tightly as possible to try and head back, but with Desperamon's added weight, failed to manage the turn, and Minotarumon was upon them, his jackhammer finding Witchmon and discharging, shattering her broom and throwing her away down the corridor, his flesh hand reaching out and snatching Desperamon from the air before smashing him against the wall and throwing him to the ground, the metal hammer swinging for him once more.

"Earthquake Drill!"

Desperamon rolled to the side, but it didn't matter, the hammer's impact caused the ground to erupted once more and the gunslinger was thrown up against the corridor wall before being barraged by flying chunks of flagstone.

"I saw that…going a little differently in my head." Demi moaned, devolved and on the ground with a dazed look upon her face.

"Bulletmon!" Spehy cried, running to his half buried patner.

With a roar, GeoGreymon made one last mad rush at the ultimate, only to have the Earthquake Drill impact upon his chest, throwing him back and causing him to revert to a pain stricken Agumon.

"My everything hurts now…" The little dinosaur groaned.

"And so it ends…not with a bang but with…well, okay, it was with a bang."

Shadows whipped and swirled as the cool, condensing sound of Eight Ball's voice entered the corridor, the hacker stepping out into the dim torch light of the corridor, Komodomon at his side and Eclipsemon at their backs.

"Ani…Aniki…" Lupmon panted, able turning her head to look at the crimson lizard.

"Eight! You are going to be in _so_ much trouble!" Min yelled in a very teacher-like tone of voice.

"Am I?" Eight smiled. "I've won this little exchange Major, the only evidence of what I've done will be the account of you and your psychotic partner, after all, we all know who Mowgli and Strabimon will side with."

Min spat a curse under her breath while Demi, held limp in her arms, grumbled something like 'cheater' while Eight turned his eyes to Sythe.

"I must say, you were a surprising addition to this little sortie, but no matter, you shall be expelled with the rest." Eight smirked; full of the satisfaction of victory, while Sythe clenched her fists and glared, hating her current helplessness. "Don't be too upset, after all, Minotaurmon is the pride of my little drones! A simple mental programme like Golemmon made him easy to re-write unlike most Ultimate levels, but he more than makes up for it with all that raw power of his." Waving a hand out, he indicated where Dainya stood with DemiDevimon, Sythe and the heavily dazed Lupmon. "Minotaurmon, expel these pests."

Growling, the bulky Digimon turned to complete its task, stopping when a bolt of fire smacked against the back of its head. The blow was weak, far too weak to do damage, but enough to gain his attention as the beast lumbered back around to glare to the spot beside Eight, the organic hand rubbing at the singed spot while its eyes narrowed.

"Ember Fang." Komodomon released the words slowly.

Groaning, Eight pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Don't tell me you're joining this little revolt too Lieutenant." The hacker sighed.

"Sorry Lieutenant-Colonel, but Min we both know the General would never have allowed this…and what sort of Aniki would I be…" he glanced at Lupmon briefly. "if I wasn't willing to stand by my followers when they needed me most?"

"Fine, your funeral." Eight waved, turning and walking away from the red lizard, Eclipsemon following. "Minotaurmon, if you would be so kind?"

Lumbering forward, Minotaurmon drew back his jack-hammer as Komodomon shifted into a fighting stance. Looking on, Dainya wanted to ask 'why', but she wasn't sure which 'why' it would be. Why was he here without Cait? Why had they been brought here, why was he going against the organization to help them? There was also a how. How was he able to act alone like this? But the time for questions ran out as Minotaurmon launched his Earthquake Drill attack, and Komodomon exploded in light.

"Komodomon Digivolve to…"

The jackhammer held in place as the light settled, revealing the red dragon warrior, his wings fanning out as his whole body strained to hold back Minotaurmon's colossal power, his claws clamped on either side of the jack-hammer, keeping it out of reach and at least temporarily nullifying the attack.

"DRAKEMON!"

"You are in serious trouble Eight."

"Lieutenant-Colonel, sir!" Min exclaimed as Cait paced along the corridor, glowing digivice in hand as he approached the battle scene.

"I log on and find the mansion empty, and our guests locked in some twisted trap." The adventurer and officer berated, his cloak casting shadows upon his body thanks to the torch-light as he glared at the hacker. "You have a lot of explaining to do." His eyes slid across to Minotaurmon. "But first, I better clean up your mess." A trio of stat modifiers, red, blue, and white were produced from his cloak. "Ready Drakemon?"

"Been ready…for the last…half-hour." His partner grunted. "Let's just do this!"

Roaring, Minotaurmon swung its arm back up in an effort to slam Drakemon into the ceiling, only to have the dragon release its grip and push back with his wings, escaping Minotaurmon's melee range and leaving it immune to the main purpose of the Earthquake Drill.

"Stat Modifier! Power Up!" Cait called, slicing the red disc and causing Drakemon to shine.

"Dragon Burn!" The dragon roared, unleashing a barrage of explosive fireballs upon the enemy, who roared in anger and launched into a fresh Matador Attack.

"Stat Modifier! Speed Up!" Cait sliced the blue, adding it to the colour surrounding Drakemon, who swept forward, continuing to release the Dragon Burn before swooping in and around the gap left under Minotaurmon's arm, coming low enough to skid and pivot on one clawed foot, changing trajectory back towards the ultimate who was only now turning back around.

"Stat Modifer! Critical Up!" Cait sliced the final white disc, causing the colours around Drakemon to intensify as he swept in close to his lumbering foe.

"Impact Claw!" Drakemon cried, striking Minotaurmon under the chin before raining blows over his head, focusing on areas that were softer, sweeping back once more when the ultimate level was able to co-ordinate a counter, Drakemon opting to land down beside Dainya, one arm extended, not as a guard, but almost in offering of a perch.

"Would you care to finish this sir?" Bemused at his words, Dainya turned as DemiDevimon nodded from his place on her shoulder and hopped into the air and made a short glide to Drakemon's outstretched arm, his claws gripping the thick muscles for balance as Drakemon took flight once more, before swinging his arm out and propelling the small rookie at Minotaurmon.

"Wha…?" Dainya babbled.

"All yours, sir." Cait, bowed his head as a second figure entered the corridor.

"DemiDevimon Digivolve to…" The rookie called as a brilliant swathe of purple light erupted from his form, brighter than the previous evolutions as he raced to meet the maze's guardian.

"Earthquake Drill!" The bull roared, swinging out with its jackhammer.

Once again the bull found its arm stopping before it was meant to, but this time the hammer did discharge, but unable to push forward, it sent the force back, causing Minotaurmon to wail in pain at the backlash of its own weapon.

With the light settling, DemiDevimon's new form could be seen as long, gloved fingers clasped the jackhammer. The Digimon was clad in a fine purple suit with an almost naval motif, the same bat emblem Min wore sitting on one shoulder, fine gold embroidery for the details of the outfit while a dark cape with fashionably frayed edges sat around its neck, trailing to the floor, its inner lining a bright blood red, and its collar as tall as the digimon's head. The head itself was in a fashion handsome, but with pale purple features and pointed elf ears, a red bat shaped mask sat upon his face and his lips were deep purple, his toothy grin exposing enlarged canines.

"Myotismon." He carefully enunciated, as if to make things perfectly clear.

Undisturbed, unlike Eight who now looked decidedly nervous, Minotaurmon pulled its other arm back to swing at the floating vampire type Digimon, only to be beaten to the almost literally punch as Myotismon struck with an attack as quick as its namesake.

"Crimson Lightning!" He called, lashing up with the stream of red energy that poured from his free hand, easily cleaving the great hunk of beef in two before it exploded into data fragments, Myotismon kept its arm extended, drawing in the data as experience.

** Name: Myotismon**

**Level: Ultimate**

**Type: Virus**

**Attacks: **Crimson Lightning, Grisly Wing, Nightmare Claw.

"Woah." Sephy gawked, his scanning preformed almost on instinct as he watched.

"Sir!" called Min as she snapped to attention, cradling Demi in one arm.

"Cr-eep." Muttered Eight.

Lowering his arm, the vampire and former shoulder riding devil dust bunny, swept into a deep bow, facing Cait and the new arrival.

"Target eliminated General Stoker, sir."

Stepping aside, while standing to full attention, Cait allowed the player to pass. Everyone paid full respect to the head of the nightmare soldiers, Drakemon standing straight, even Eclipsemon made an effort to defy his crooked posture before his ultimate superior, Eight too, despite his obvious concern, stood with correct disposition.

The General himself appeared as an elderly gentleman, fringes of his neatly cropped hair turning to grey, with a face that displayed the wisdom of age. His movement drew taps out as his fine leather shoes moved with even, measured steps across the cold stone floor, his body clad in a lush velvet suit with dark jacket and trousers, a red waistcoat and white shirt, golden cufflinks adorning the cuffs of the jacket, shining in the torch light as he smoothed out his lapels. Overall, his appearance matched up with grand Victorian Mansion up above the maze, refined, rich, and gentile.

"Thank you, Brigadier-General Myotismon." His voice was just as lush and rich as his appearance as the leader of the Nightmare Soldiers nodded to his subordinate, before fixing his crinkled green eyes upon the hacker. "Lieutenant-Colonel Eight Ball, why have you been treating our guests so rudely in my absence?"

Eight Ball only had the fortitude to look like a schoolboy who had been caught teasing the new kid, unable to draw out a response, witty or otherwise. Passing through the wreckage of the fight, General Stoker approached Dainya, standing a respectable distance from the now very confused and bemused girl, and bowing in a gentlemanly fashion.

"I apologise for your treatment since your arrival, I assure you this was not the manner I intended to have you received tonight. I hope you will be able to forgive my subordinates for their rudeness, and I am more than willing to answer any questions you may have about our organisation and our operations."

Giving the elderly gentleman an almost blank look, Dainya had left the realms of unofficially confused over these matters to unbelievably confused as the scenario took a total 180 and she found herself nodding. To have come this far, and become this confused, it really was the only thing for her to do.

---

The gas lamps were fully lit in the great meeting chamber, and Dainya found herself seated across from Sephy and (a much relieved looking) Bulletmon, and alongside Min, who was currently treating a very ill and irate looking Strabimon for his poisoning, DemiDevimon chuckling from her common perch on Min's hat (which was on the table rather than her head) at the slight colour change the canine warrior was experiencing.

"I can't believe you didn't have a cure poison disc!" She berated Mowgli, who for once was in a seat, rather than upon the table. "Look at him, he's almost green!" Looking around the tint altered Digimon, she glared at the grammatically defunct officer. "You, big idiot." She complained, spreading her arms out to emphasise the use of the word big, to which, Mowgli stuck his tongue out, while Strabimon did his best not to pay attention, closing his eyes.

Sythe and Agumon, who sat to the left of Dainya, looked decidedly irritated at the situation, possibly, to she assumed, because the fighting was over now. The rest of the Nightmare Soldiers were also seated, with Eight tucked away at a lower corner, as if trying to hide from his superiors, while Cait seemed to be trying to hide from Dainya, seating himself closer to the top end, where Stoker and Myotismon were seated in the large throne like chairs that resided there. Komodomon and Lupmon sat together, or rather, Komodomon sat, listening and watching Lupmon as she recounted their experiences in the maze, bouncing around in a hyper fashion as she enjoyed the full attention of her Aniki, as she had been doing so all the way up from the maze. Heads swivelled when the large wooden doors of the meeting room swung open, and Dainya watched with wide eyes as a Taomon strode into the chamber, a large tome cradled in one arm.

"I apologise for my tardiness General." She gave a small, formal bow, removing the small round glasses that perched upon her nose and tucking them into her sleeve as she rose. "I was going over the records and became a little too engrossed."

"It is quite alright, Brigadier." Stoker nodded, having risen from his seat when she entered. "We were just about to start the meeting." He gestured to her seat and the priest-like Digimon padded up past the table, allowing her eyes to stray for enough to note the positions of the non-members before setting her book to one side and sitting down, paws draped along the arm rests. "Now then," General Stoker began, his words carrying enough authority that the hall fell silent, even Lupmon resuming her seat, and all eyes turned to the leader of the Nightmare Soldiers. "I suppose you are very confused as to why you were summoned here." He looked to both Sephy and Dainya, who both nodded, unable to muster a more detailed verbal response.

"Lupmon not!" The wolf broke out, waving a claw in the air. "Lupmon came to find Aniki, and she found him!" She pointed to the chair next to her where Komodomon sighed, giving his follower a small hush and telling her, in a polite manner, to keep quiet for now, to which Lupmon gave her usually enthusiastic nod while Dainya almost took to hiding behind her hand in embarrassment.

The outburst did not, however, disturb General Stoker, who simply smiled in a genial fashion at the lupine's antics before continuing.

"I feel before that is explained, it would be best to explain to you the goals of the Nightmare Soldiers, as otherwise our motives for involving you would make little sense. Besides," he let his eyes focus upon Cait and Min for a few moments. "The Brigadier-General informs me that some members of our organisation have given you cryptic messages that have done little more than pique your curiosity." Min looked away at this, pretending to check up on Strabimon, while Cait seemed to try and hide his face beneath his bandanna. "Lieutenant-Colonel Cait, has also informed me that you, Miss Dainya, spoke with Moderator Duke about us, and have learned of our reputation as a collaboration of ill-willed hackers."

As Cait was mentioned, Dainya looked up at the supposed explorer and found him looking back at her, averting his eyes as soon as he noticed he had her attention, looking as if he had just been found out for telling on his friends to the teacher.

"What you must understand is that this reputation is a front. While we do our best to maintain the secrecy of our structure, our goals force us to act within the game, thus threatening the exposure of our true motives to the Moderators and Administrators. If they think any members they happen upon are organised, we allow them to receive the impression that we are nothing more than collaborating hackers looking to commit the usual array of sinister miss-deeds. But," The tone of his voice changed, taking on a heavy kind of seriousness that tightened the skin around his eyes. "our true motives, and our true structure can never be discovered by anyone with loyalties to Pandai, or all our work will be undone and lives will be lost. It may sound overly dramatic, but it is the truth. If I am to tell you, you must solemnly swear to never speak of it with anyone who is not one of us. If you cannot perform this, I will expel you now or have Lieutenant-Colonel Eight Ball freeze you from your accounts." Eight visibly winced at the rather limited tone used upon his rank, while Dainy and Sephy exchanged looks before turning back to the General and nodding their accent. Flowery words, after all, did not make a promise more honest. "The Digimon too." Stoker insisted, causing Sephy and Dainya to exchange looks of the confused variety, before Bulletmon suddenly rose from his seat.

"I swear it sir, none shall hear what you speak of from me." The virus swore, one hand upon where a human would carry their heart.

Lupmon meanwhile looked to her Aniki, who nodded, prompting her to turn and face the general, nodding her mad nod.

"Lupmon promise too."

"Good." Stoker nodded, carrying on with his explanation. "Within this game world, we of the Nightmare Soldiers, or NS, are both its greatest enemies and protectors." Eyelids were blinked at this paradox bearing statement. "While it is true that we seek to break the protective code around the Yggdrasil server, and undermine the moderators, our goal is not to harm this game but to unearth the truth behind it. You see, for as much as this all seems to be a brilliantly constructed game, there are Digimon here who are not simple code, but actual, living, or rather, sentient beings. We of NS seek to protect these Digimon and discover the secret of this game, and hopefully, uncover the real digital world!" The General's voice began to rumble with contained excitement, and when he finished, he, and all those gathered, turned to look at one of their 'guests' as a slightly uncomfortable silence began to settle in.

"Say wha…?" Sephy cocked an eyebrow, having now completely lost the plot.

"You're kidding, right?" Dainya asked. "I haven't, well…not actively…" She blushed a little in embarrassment. "believed that Digimon were real in years! You can't honestly expect me to believe you've been running around playing DATS all this time and actually thinking their real…right?" Her voice wavered, unsure of her own words, especially with all these eyes on her.

"If you're having doubts," Eight suddenly intruded. "then look to your own partner." He gestured across to the table, catching Lupmon's attention and prompting the wolf to look around behind herself, before raising a claw and pointing and placing it against her nose, seeking confirmation, which came in the form of Komodomon patting her shoulder and telling her 'yes, he is talking about you.'

"Lupmon is probably the clearest example of Digimon sentience for you." Cait suddenly spoke up, his tone reserved, and still unable to look at Dainya. "She asks many questions, mostly somewhat relevant to what is going on around her, and responds to the answers. She formed a loyalty to Komodomon upon her own violation. Many of these aspects could be programmed…"

"But not even I could make her that chaotic." Eight finished.

"You're being very co-operative all of a sudden." Min glared at the hacker, immediately distrustful. "What gives?"

"I'm simply being a good loser." Eight waved her off. "I'll sit back, be nice, and plot my horrible revenge."

Sighing, Min picked up the explanations.

"Don't forget those two." She pointed to Sephy and Bulletmon. "While the kid isn't the spiciest pakora in the take out," a 'hey' was elicited from Sephy, who then grumbled something like 'what's a pakora anyway.' "His partner has proven to be quite the brain box, remember how useful he was back against Golemmon. Without him, Sephy-kins would probably never have made it out of Root Town."

"Oh yeah!" Sephy yelled, forgetting suddenly where he was, and not actually realising he had gotten the point. "Well I suppose it explains your dumb arguments with _your_ partner you old hag."

"Who you callin' old!?" Min's glare returned as she hurled her hat, still bearing DemiDevimon at the boy. With the Digimon's added weight, the force was enough to knock Sephy back into his seat. DemiDevimon promptly untangled herself and took flight, (hat in claws) back to her side of the table and prepared to get into another fight with Min, while Bulletmon moved to calm Sephy down, Lupmon and Komodomon chuckled at the scene while Strabimon sighed and Agumon shook his head. Looking at the reactions of all the Digimon, it became very easy for her to believe what she was being told. Seeing this realisation dawn in the eyes of his guests (even if Sephy was more preoccupied with being mad a Min) General Stoker called silence and continued.

"We dub the sentient Digimon 'Wild Ones', after the Hypnos term, and have found that their appearance is not restricted to partnered Digimon, but NPCs as well. Brigadier Taomon is an example of that." He gestured to the Digimon, who proceeded to give a nod. "It is our theory that this game is somehow tied to the, or a, real digital world, and that it is the source of all Wild Ones."

"This is theory is also backed by what we've dubbed 'Wild Lands.'" Eight picked up. "Areas of the game that have hidden aspects beyond those of their programmed environment, typically things like the time it takes for terrain damage to heal." Cait gave the hacker a brief glare, the incident in the mountain garden was clearly not forgiven, but Eight carried on unflinchingly.

"If there is a key to accessing the digital world, we believe it is within those Wild Lands. When you first met Lieutenant-Colonels Cait, and Eight Ball they were under orders to conduct an investigation of the Eniac Ruins, as well as cover it up." General Stoker resumed.

"What do you mean, cover it up, exactly?" Dainya asked. She expected either General Stoker or Eight to answer, but the General turned to look at Cait, prompting him to give the explanation. The cloaked officer sighed a little, made an effort to look at Dainya, failed, and settled for gazing at a spot a few inches before her.

"We don't know how much Pandai knows about all this, or how much they're manipulating, but in any case we couldn't let on that we knew. The plan was initially to have Eight Ball break into the areas coding,"

"Something that yields more definitive answers if done 'in-game'." The hacker supplemented.

"while I would apparently 'intervene' and be able to provide a report to the Moderators on his actions." Cait continued. "Eight's reputation and my testimony would have been enough to make it look like he was trying to crack Yggdrasil. The moderators would be left none the wiser to what we were actually doing,"

"Which was just looking to compare the Ruins' data to other Wild Lands, like our Mansion." Eight once again added his commentary.

"and would be likely to seal the area from players while they looked for damage, which they did, and ensured the place would be vacant for a week or so." Cait finished.

"Which, so far, it has been." Eight wrapped up.

"So…why bring me along?" Dainya asked, willing Cait to actually look at her, which he did, but only for a moment.

"When I met you, I began to suspect that Lupmon was a Wild One, and I wanted to see if you had the potential…" He took a breath. "To…become a member…of…well…us…"

"Oh." Was Dainya's reaction, placing a hand to her mouth. Things were certainly much clearer now. "Is that why you took me to the Garden?" She asked, her voice becoming a little harsher than she liked. It was one thing to be betrayed, another to be viewed as a statistic, or potential grunt. "And let Sephy come, because you heard about him from Min?" Her eyes darted to the witch for a moment.

"No." Cait answered, twiddling his thumbs and looking rather nervous. "I really did just want to show you it, because I thought you would like it. And I let Sephy come because, well, you were babysitting him."

Sephy made some kind of grumble, which seemed a mix of irritation and disdain, while Dainya softened a bit, finally getting the answers that she had first come here for.

"I'm sorry." Cait apologised, head hung.

"Now why can't you be more like that Sythe?" Eight's loud voice suddenly broke the solemn mood Cait's apology had struck. "You went and broke our door and my maze and you haven't even looked sheepish!"

"They were in my way!" Sythe yelled, indignant with raised fist.

"Private White-Sythe, please control your temper." Brigadier-General Myotismon sighed. "We've had enough fights today already."

"Private?" Was the collective question from the non-NS members, who now stared in surprise at the white garbed PvP specialist.

"Private White Sythe of the Nightmare Soldiers." General Stoker nodded. "Indeed she is one of our operatives, though I'm curious as to why she didn't immediately try to contact myself or Lieutenant-Colonel Cait when she heard about Eight's challenge letter, I do remember you being informed of our plans to offer membership to Dainya and her companions after all."

"Because this insensitive jerk made Dainya cry!" Sythe exclaimed, jagging an accusing finger up at Cait, who leant back a bit in his chair in response and once again tried to vanish behind his bandanna.

"Umm…I never, actually…eh…cried…" Dainya made what she thought may be a protest, or correction, gingerly raising her hand to try and catch Sythe's attention.

"But you were holding it back weren't you!" Sythe swung her arm around to point at Dainya now, one foot up upon the table as she swung on in full dramatic mode. " All the sorrow and pain he caused you with his callous deceptions, I had no choice but to come down here and seek bloody justice!"

Silence fell for a few moments after the outburst until, quite naturally, Eight spoke up.

"So who comes and gets the people in white coats when they go crazy?"

Sythe growled, and was about to go for her chair when General Stoker found himself calling for silence once more.

"The long and short is, we would like to offer you, Miss Dainya, Miss Lupmon, Masters Sephy and Bulletmon, a place within our organisation."

"You mean you think we're awesome enough to help save the digital world?" Sephy asked, eyes as large as a child's could be, looking back at Bulletmon for a moment. The discovery of his partner honestly being real was a child's wish fulfilled, and he wasn't afraid to look incredibly happy about it, just as Eight wasn't afraid to taunt him.

"Actually we think Bulletmon is awesome enough, you're just part of the package."

"I'm sure the digital world placed Bulletmon with Sephy for a reason." A cold voice crept into the room, chilling Sephy's fire before he could retort and all eyes fixed on Eight, the group watching as a figure began to rise out from beneath his chair. "Just as it had reason to pair me with you."

Sliding into the chair beside Eight, the voice's form, such as it was, could now be seen. It did not take a genius to fathom that this was likely to be Eclipsemon's rookie form, the being was of the same deep obsidian as the champion, and bore the same eerie glowing eyes. It bore no wings and seemed to be made of a swirling dark mass, as parts of its body seemed to cease being corporeal and bleed into a kind of dark mist, its fingers seemed more like claws and were of unusual lengths, and one could see them shifting in size if they looked hard enough, but staring at the deep dark of the body didn't feel like a good idea.

** Name: Shademon**

** Level: Rookie **

**Type: Virus**

**Attacks: **Shadow Jab, Haze bomb.

"Given the scenario, I think that was kinda rude." Sythe hissed at Sephy, who stuck his tongue out in response before putting his Digivice away.

"Mystic voodoo is no match for a good pun kid." Eight quipped, causing his partner to roll his eyes, or so was the assumption. Shademon had no pupils, so the odd shimmer of their ghostly light had to serve as an indicator.

"Hang on!" Dainya broke into the discussion. "You mean to tell me, with the exception of Sephy, all the players I've hung around with have been one of you guys! Am I the target of some conspiracy or…"

"Relax, Miss Dainya." General Stoker calmed her. "While Private White Sythe is an operative of ours, she is renown for acting on impulse too much." The general frowned across at the white clad player.

"I just saw that you were lookin' for Cait and wanted to help." Sythe expanded. "You can trust this face," She pointed both fingers at her cheeks, giving a cheery smile. "I've never had time for all the sneaky, back-door, hush-hush stuff."

A sarcastic look passed among those gathered, Sythe's lack of appreciation for stealthy arts had been more than apparent this night.

"And what about Demi, er, Myo…um…I'm sorry, I've forgotten your rank, eh, Mr Myotismon Sir." Dainya's voice wavered as she looked to the tall vampire.

"Brigadier-General." Myotismon smiled at her. "And I'll admit my motives were a bit more underhanded. I overheard Lieutenant-Colonel Eight Ball's scheming and decided, for which I apologise General, to allow him to act out his plans so that I could observe how Dainya and her comrades would respond to the scenario. I simply wanted to see you all in the same way Cait and the others had."

The General gave a cough as he once more tried to steer the topic of the meeting back on course.

"If we could return to our main topic…Dainya, Lupmon, Sephy, Bulletmon." He looked to each of them in turn. "Will you accept your offer, and work with us? You may refuse, but if so, I urge you to keep to secrecy everything you have heard here tonight."

Lupmon gazed over at her partner. She really didn't understand what was going on, but she knew it was about her and Dainya, and Dainya would know what it all meant, she was very smart after all, like her Aniki. Dainya, for her part, was twiddling her thumbs under the table, sneaking glances at Lupmon. Could she believe Lupmon was alive? Yes. Did she want to believe she was alive? Yes. Did she believe she was alive…?

Yes.

But that wasn't what was holding back her answer.

Before Sephy could blurt out his response, Dainya spoke up.

"How!" She paused as she succeeded in spooking herself with the sound of her voice. "How do I know you're all…really the good guys…?" She wavered a little, growing embarrassed again as all focus fell on her, but she could see all the members of NS setting their minds to work, tackling the very important question. "I mean…" She continued. "I know good guys is a pretty loose notion, but how do I know you're really all you say you are, I mean, I've watched a lot of movies and…y'know…" She twiddled her thumbs again, cheeks red, the attention having become too much for her to handle.

"Well, Shademon, for one, is definitely not a good guy." Komodomon grinned, pointing over at the shadowy virus.

"I look forward to your expiration you scaled rodent." Shademon returned, his voice dripping with cold venom. It seemed he wanted to say more regarding an end for Komodomon, but restrained himself. "My motivation," he spoke to Dainya, his voice now simply cold. "should be little concern in your decision." Dainya knew it shouldn't, but the look she gave the little demon told her she wanted to know regardless. "It was the will of the Digital World that I work with Eight." Shademon sighed. "I do not know why this is so, but the Nightmare Soldiers are my best link to my origin. When I uncover the Digital World's intentions, then I will choose whether or not to follow them."

"It'll be a dark future if you like what it has to say…" Komodomon grumbled, the words still able to reach Shademon who narrowed his eyes to dangerously glowing slits.

"It is true that Shademon's morals are…questionable, at best." General Stoker tried to pick his words with care. "But his rather unique stealth abilities have proven a valuable asset to our operations."

Dainya sighed, they weren't doing a very good job of convincing her of their alignment.

"I don't know…if we can prove our intention to you." Cait spoke up. "Forcing himself to look at Dainya, though he still looked nervous and guilty and apologetic. "We hid a lot from you in order to preserve ourselves, and when we decided," The 'we' was stressed, and his eyes roved to Eight. "to let you in, you weren't given the best of receptions." He turned back to Dainya, looking her in the eyes for the first time all evening. "We won't try and force you, but we really think you would be able to help us find the truth."

"Plus, you're kinda hot." Eight threw in.

"That's it!" Sythe suddenly exclaimed, going for the chair again as those around her once more moved to try and stop a rather pointless brawl, as none of the players could actually feel pain, from breaking out.

And it helped Dainya. These were, mostly, good people. A bit odd, but none really seemed malevolent, but she had a few more questions to put forward before her mind would be at ease.

"If…" she began, just as General Stoker managed to restore order. "If a Digimon…if Lupmon," She rephrased to the heart of her concern. "If Lupmon and I were to lose a battle here, and she was destroyed…" She glanced briefly to her partner, before looking to the General again. "What would happen to her?"

Sighing, the General leant back in his chair, nursing the bridge of his nose, looking suddenly more of the old than gentleman.

"As you know her, she would die." He explained, his voice full of grave seriousness. "The game would piece her back together, but she wouldn't be the same…the part of her that was alive would be gone and she would simply be an ordinary programmed Digimon."

At this, Stoker looked to his partner, and Dainya was aware that all of the NS were paying attention to their partners, the ones whose lives were at risk in what they did. Even Sephy had caught on and was staring intently at Bulletmon, though when the Digimon noticed, the boy looked away, trying to look tough but failing as usual.

"So if Eight's Minotaurmon had finished us…" She rolled the thought out into words.

"Which it didn't!" Eight threw in.

"She would have died, yes." Stoker fixed his glare upon Eight.

"I assure you, sir, I had no intention of killing anyone." The hacker protested. "I simply sought to highlight their inexperience and prove that they would not be of benefit to the organisation, regardless of how hot she is." Dainya went red and Sythe, with a cry of 'dam-eep you ba-eeep' went for the chair, only to be restrained by Agumon.

That settled matters for her though. She couldn't, in good conscience, keep playing the game and putting Lupmon's life in danger for the sake of fun, but she didn't want to be parted from the wolf, especially not now that she knew…

Besides, Charley was always telling her she needed to be more adventurous, and this was the sort of adventure she dreamed of.

"I…I'll do it." She practically stuttered, but still catching everyone's attention. "I want to stay with Lupmon, and I want to know more about what's going on!" She was getting excited; her eyes darted to Cait, Komodomon, Sythe and Agumon. She wanted to stay with them too, and understand them a little better. "If it's okay with Lupmon that is." She added, pointing over to the wolf who simply swung her head in a mad nod.

"Lupmon is happy to be with Dainya and follow her Aniki." She proclaimed.

Eyes turned to Sephy.

"I was in back at 'Digimon are real.'" He shrugged, grinning broadly.

"And I will follow Kaiser wherever he may go." Bulletmon added.

"Welcome to the family Dainya." Min swung an arm around the girl's shoulder and pulled her in close in what would have been a crushing hug in real life. "We're a bit mad, and there are a bunch more of us out there in places, but we know how to throw a party." Demi chuckled, leaping onto Dainya's head.

Smiles filled the table, and Myotismon allowed himself to grin and nod to Dainya, having grown fond of her in the time he'd spent upon her shoulder, he could see why Cait had wanted her to become a member.

"Good. With that settled I assign the four of you the rank of 'private', you will be functioning under Lieutenant Komodomon's command within Lieutenant-Colonel Cait's division." The General gestured to the adventurer, who gave Dainya a sheepish look before hiding within his bandana again. "This also brings me to our second order of business tonight." The General gestured to the Brigadier-General, who rose to speak, cloak swirling about him as he did so.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Eight Ball." He began with a grave tone, the joviality was gone from his voice, but it certainly did not look like he was dreading this task. "For acts of insubordination, you are here by stripped of the rank of 'Lieutenant-Colonel' and demoted to the rank of Major, henceforth to serve within the unit of, and as subordinate to, Lieutenant-Colonel Cait."

The faces of both officers paled, working together did not seemed to be an option they relished, and Shademon allowed his eyes to give a piercing glare of almost pure hatred to Komodomon, who promptly ignored him.

"Major Min," The vampire turned. "You are here-by promoted to rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and are to take over the duties formerly held by the now Major Eight Ball. Congratulations." He grinned as he finished, and Min spent a few moments in shock before sly looked dawned on her face and she looked around Strabimon.

"Oh Mowgli…Me, "She pointed to herself, before pointing to the wild player. "your boss now." If she didn't have some professional reserve, she'd probably have launched into maniacal cackling as Mowgli took to looking glum.

A large echoing boom washed through the hall, dulled somewhat by the stonewalls and thick doors, but still so loud that it rattled everyone in the room and drew many to their feet.

"Major Eight Ball! What is going on?" The General snapped, switching to full military mode.

"Obtaining visual." The hacker responded, fully serious as he summoned monitor screens identical to those he'd used to observe the maze. "But I get the feeling someone just re-used Sythe's knock-knock joke. And I don't think it's gonna be quite as funny this time around."

Calling up an image of the front foyer, Eight enlarged the screen to allow everyone to see the destruction that had been wrecked upon not just the repaired door, but most of the front wall as pieces of stone and wood and glasses lay scattered everywhere and purple shapes moved through the dust.

"Gizmon…" Cait gave a worried and troubled sigh.

"Rookie and AT models." Eight grimaced. "And I wouldn't be surprised if there were XT models in the wings."

While Sephy tried scanning, but only received an image and the name 'Gizmon', Dainya sought to understand the new problem before them.

"Aren't Gizmon from the 'Savers' series?" She asked.

"Yeah, as the villain's shock troops." Cait kept his eyes on the screen, while Eight called up more camera images. "But here, they work for the moderators."

"So if one of you is wearing a wire, fess up now." Eight cut in, before turning the latest screen to face them all. "I want to be able to get real mad at someone before we all get wiped out."

The screen showed the outside of the mansion, swarming with Gizmon of all varieties. And amongst them all was a colossal blue Digimon with gold details to its armour, great metal claws upon its feet and grand wings that remembered a tattered cloak. Great silver spikes grew from the back of its helm, and a grand golden 'V' was attached to its chest. Upon one pauldro there stood a man clad in a blue suit, his hair following the same scheme and spiked back with a sporty pair of blue sports sunglasses upon his face.

"You can scan that one Sephy." Min growled. "UlforceVeedramon, one of the moderators."

An unsettled feeling naturally grew through all those present, a mega level royal knight and an army of purple doom bugs can do that to you, especially if Eight's implication that someone had ratted them out was true.

"Nightmare Soldiers, prepare for immediate, emergency evacuation." General Stoker commanded.

Outside, the moderator watched as his Gizmon troops advanced into the mansion, tearing down the wall that stood in their way. He wondered how much a fight they would put up, and whether he would be able to receive any real fun from this hunt.

"Konichiwa, Nightomare Soldiers." He grinned, his voice laden with a Tokyo accent. "Ready or noto… Here. I. Come."

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**Raven: **I personally feel that this entire labyrinth arc ending on a rather awkward note. However, we really didn't want to turn this into the Bleach Soul Society arc with people running everywhere, so we decided to cut it sort and get back to the important stuff; plot twists. Though, let's be honest, I'd bet fifty kudos bars everybody saw this coming.

We came up with the idea for the Nightmare Soldiers, and what their purpose was way back when. After people kept commenting on the parallels between this story and dot.hack, I watched some and played through some, and discovered the Twilight Brigade. Realizing just how similar these two guilds are is insanely creepy. The main difference is what they are looking for, and the fact that the NS knows what exactly it is.

Finally, the mods get to do something, and we end up cutting the chapter beforehand! Aren't we just mean?

**Keyo: **And so I finally had enough time (with summer holidays being over for normal schools I'm not needed so much at work) to write a 9000 word chapter. Yay!

Really, there is a whole lot I could say on this…I think. I've been looking forward to this for ages now. I love the NS crew and I really wanted to reveal them for what they are…completely mad! But now I get to write the Digimon properly, and that makes me happy. I also get to have Cait back as a good guy and write a lot of fun stuff for Min and Sythe, they're awesome, pity the creampuff hit the fan.

On a side note, Minotaurmon's attack is actually called 'Bull Fighting Attack', but this sounded very clumsy, so I took some liberties to play around with it. A Matador is the top rank of bull fighter and their name means 'Killer', so I felt it fit a bit better than 'Bull Fighting.' I often think of how these foriegn names are cool, but when it's your language, it's all clumsy like Bull Fighting Attack.

And now to explain the name, 'Nightmare Soldiers'. Nightmare Soldiers is one of the Digimon family groups, and in the anime, all of Myotismon's henchmen were from the Nightmare Soldier family. I thought this was cool, so all the NS members are from that Family (yes, even Taomon). Most of our fan-mon would be too, though Komodomon could fit into Dragon's Roar.

Also, there are no typos in the last line; I just tried to type the moderator's accent.

See you next chapter!!!

**Keyo & Raven.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Keyo:** Chapter! Notes! Giant Ducks!

**Important Note:** " " indicates translated from a foreign language. Originally I wrote it in Japanese, but Raven thought it looked dumb, so all my research went don the drain.

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Chapter 22: Raid! (Pt 6)

Raided!

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Golemmon hammered blows down upon the shield like wings of the AT model Gizmon, while others tried to hurl the rookie models around, but the Gizmon seemed innumerable, retaliating with a rain of optic blasts, each obtaining an instant kill, regardless of the Golemmon's high defence. Gizmon had one purpose, and that was too destroy, and they were designed to be very good at it. Unfortunately for them, the mansion was designed to ward off intruders, and the spiders like Rookie model Gizmon found themselves tumbling into the hidden maze as the floor vanished, along with the remaining compliment of Golemmon. Unhindered by the absence of ground, the AT models with their shield like wings continued to advance, hovering through space until a barrage of attacks from the ghostly Bakumon struck out them, their own levitation affording them the same advantage as the AT's. Back in the grand meeting room, Eight turned to his comrades.

"Okay, the good news is the creepy spider types can't get in, but with the armada of AT's out there, I don't think I've got enough Bakumon to hold them for long." The hacker lamented. "So we ready to run?"

"We got the door open if that's what you mean." Cait replied in a dead-pan, indicating the large wooden floor level door. The whole table had been moved to one side and the lush carpet beneath pulled back to reveal the hidden passage which Lupmon and Komodomon had just pulled aside.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Cait, Lieutenant Komodomon, please take the lead." General Stoker instructed. "Brigadier-General Myotsimon and myself will take the rear."

Nodding, Cait and Komodomon moved to the entrance, motioning for Dainya, Lupmon, Sephy and Bulletmon to follow, explaining that they needed to stay close while Min practically threatened Mowgli and Strabimon to keep a close eye on them and keep them safe.

"General Stoker, if I may have a word?" Stoker turned to tell his Brigadier that there was no time, but the sad look that graced the kitsune priestess' eyes quieted him.

"General, I believe I should…"

"No." Stoker practically snapped, his crinkled visage screwing up in agitation. "I know what you are thinking and…" A large paw was placed upon the player's shoulder, owing to Taomon's size it dwarfed the shoulder and wrapped around part of his arm as the Brigadier locked eyes with her superior.

"You heard Major Eight Ball, the Bakumon will not last long and I can already feel the administrators mapping our location, we cannot hope to keep the passage way secret. If I remain, I can hold them a little longer and buy you more time."

Loosing his reserve for a moment, Stoker seemed to stumble for words, leading Taomon to simply smile at him.

"Ge…Stoker," She corrected, allowing herself to be familiar for these last few moments. "I cannot make this a long good-bye, but I have been very happy to have met you, and proud to have worked with you. Please, keep yourself safe. Myotismon?" She looked to the tall vampire who nodded in return, fully understanding her mindset. As the Tao Priestess removed her paw from her General's shoulder, to be replaced by Myotismon's guiding hand. "Take this too." She offered the tomb she had brought to the meeting, Myotismon accepting it in his free hand. "It is the final records, you will need it." The Brigadier-General nodded and steered his very aged looking commander into the passageway as Taomon turned to face the great oak doors of the meeting chamber.

"Taomon!" The General called as he began his decent. "I…I have been happy and proud to have known you too."

Not turning, Taomon smiled sadly to herself as she heard the doors of the passageway creak closed.

"Well then…this is it." She sighed, pulling her glasses out from her sleeve and polishing them from habit before placing them back. Cleaning the lenses of the little full moon glasses was a comforting habit she had formed, she had liked to keep them clean, Stoker had commissioned them as a side project from Eight when they discovered that her sight didn't seem to work right. They had all found it amusing, a Digimon who was long sighted.

She would miss them.

Swinging her arm out, a colossal calligraphy brush suddenly shot out from her sleeve, her claws grasping its fine wooden handle as she swung it around as if it were a grand sword, clasping it in both hands she quickly marked out a symbol of light in the air before her. The image hung in the air and pulling back her brush to one hand, she lashed out with the other long sleeve, firing out a single piece of paper seal, which latched onto the glowing sigil.

"Tailsman of Light, Tailsman Spell!" She cried, unleashing the energy of the combined magicks, a great shining barrier appearing around the meeting area as the doors burst open, Gizmon flooding in and throwing themselves against the magically created shield, the deadly force of Talisman of Light giving it a deadly aura and their bodies instantly evaporated upon contact.

"Nani?" A cool, callous voice inquired and the waves of Gizmon parted to allow UlForceVeedramon through, the royal knight towering over all present, having to duck to get through even the large doorway. "Barrier?" The blue haired mod smirked.

To the side of the great blue knight walked a smaller pair, a shining gold Digimon who was also connected to the Veemon line, evident in the slender blue and white form that showed between the gaps of the magnificent shining armour with its colossal pauldrons and masked helm with great 'V' fins rising from the back of the forehead, the Digimon known as Magnamon, the curves upon its body indicated a more feminine design for its model, however. Beside her walked her moderator partner, who, unlike the others, wore a formal black and white Kimono in place of a western suit; long black hair tied neatly in a pony tail which hung over one shoulder. She looked very young and followed just behind Magnamon, as if the Digimon were the leader of the pair.

"Mangamon-Sama?" She didn't need to add much to the request, looking to the golden Digimon who shifted into a combat stance, pulling back one arm before dashing forward, her entire forearm shining with the light of the sun.

"MANGA PUNCH!" She called, driving the blow into the shield, causing the whole structure to shimmer and shine before the competing forces caused an explosion of light.

---

The members of the Nightmare Soldiers hadn't stopped running once, had it all been real, Dainya knew she would have gasping, panting and shaking out the words 'Just leave me behind Sarge', or otherwise would have tripped and caused a huge mess. She was pretty sure Sephy would never have made it this far either, but thanks to the nice speed standards set for players, the boys goggle wearing avatar was following right behind her, looking back at him, she caught sight of Myotismon flying along the corridor, General Stoker held in one arm as they caught up. She noticed something was wrong, but couldn't place it until Min cried out.

"Where's Brigadier Taomon?"

It was then all present noticed the kitsune priestess' absence, Myotismon began to try and explain, but was cut off by a very sullen sounding General.

"She is trying save us all. So everyone, keep running."

No second bidding was required as the group raced along the emergency exit.

---

Taomon was breathing heavily, the meeting room was completely wrecked and she was in amongst it all, lying surrounded by bits of chair and wall. Before her, UlforceVeedramon, Magnamon and their partners walked forward, Magnamon showed no signs of wear or fatigue from her clash with the barrier, Gizmon were swarming everywhere now, all models filling the room. Taomon was scared of them, she truly was, but she had committed herself to dying here, in service of her General, in defence of her friend, fear was not going to stop her. She smiled on the inside as she leapt to her feet, the moderators had thought she was through; it was nice to surprise people sometimes. Snatching her calligraphy brush from where it lay, she once more whipped the seal into existence before her, channelling energies through it as the sigils began to blow a bright white.

"Talisman of Light!" She cried, reserved enough to keep the desperation and rage from her voice, she would not lose herself in these, her last moments as she lashed out at UlForceVeedramon, the shaft light meeting with the unyielding force of the Royal Knight's Saint Great Shield, the green glow extending from his left arm guard, before turning and swinging his right up, the Victory Sword extending from the right guard and cleaving through her brush before his great wings knocked her flying again.

"Feh." The blue haired moderator spat, alighting his perch on his partner's should to float to the ground, eyes hidden still behind the sunglasses. "Pa-thet-ic." He spoke slowly annunciating each part of the word, practicing his English, as he walked over to the fallen Ultimate. "Pa-the-tic." He sneered before apparently spitting again, he had expected a much greater challenge form the legendary Eight Ball, so far the fight had been one big disappointment.

Fumbling, Taomon pulled her paw free, tightly clutching a final paper seal, her eyes fixed upon it as she readied her final strike, preparing to make them regret not killing her outright.

"Thousand Spell!" She spoke, as if too tired to yell the attack, and the moderator sneered, turning his back on her, fearing nothing from the attack of such a badly beaten ultimate.

Then the walls, the floor, everything in the room began to glow, destructive ruins appearing over them. Looking to the doorway, he could see the spread through to the foyer, and likely beyond and through the entire mansion. Eyes widening behind his shades, the blue haired moderator began to realise what was going to happen and made a mad dash for his partner.

"Kusooo!" He growled, throwing himself forward as Magnamon turned and pulled her partner close in an effort to shield her.

There was no bang. It started off as a low hum and built up steadily in both volume and pitch as the seals grew and expanded, joining with one another and quickly wrapping the entire mansion in light, the whole building seeming to shudder, as if with great anticipation. Everything became bathed in the light and took on a new unreal look, areas of the mansion that had been condemned to darkness sense its inception were now bathed in a glow that transcended day and if you were to look from a distance, you would see a great pillar of blue flames erupt from where the mansion stood. Swirling as if alive it rose towards the sky, tearing away the mansion and Gizmon, devastating everything.

Lying amongst it all, Taomon felt beyond pain, a great exhaustion filling her body as a spell that was months in creation was finally activating; the last resort to defend the organisation. Bathed in her own destructive light, Taomon found she was no longer aware of anything, the light filling all her senses. She thought, once, that she heard a voice. She didn't know what it was, a god, a devil, the digital world Shademon so often spoke of, but she knew it was not General Stoker, And this made her quite sad.

'How odd…' She thought, looking at her last thought.

And then, for her, the light became dark.

---

The great roar that had filled the passageway, the ground almost shaking with the force of the blast, had disturbed the group despite the distance they had placed between themselves and the mansion.

"What was that?" Sephy exclaimed, craning his neck around to try and look back and see what had happened.

"The Brigadier just brought the house down on the Mods." Min spoke through gritted teeth, her tone bitter enough that even Sephy didn't need to ask if the Brigadier was alright.

"Once we get to the end there's a lift platform!" Eight called, breaking the impromptu mourning session, the hacker's real eyes elsewhere so his avatar looked somewhat vacant. "There's an Emergency Oscillation point there we can use to get out…if I'm able to get it working."

"What does that mean?" Cait hollered back.

"It means that the admins found it and are trying to shut it off, so if you'll all let me have some peace, I'll commit my singular genius against at least 6 semi-geniuses and a coffee boy!" Eight retorted before falling silent, his avatar set to run on auto.

Sighing, Cait carried on while DemiDevimon broke out into manic laughter.

"Some first day at work eh, Dainya?" She laughed, the only one quite psychotic enough to find any joy in the scenario.

---

Devastation surrounded the moderators, the whole of the mansion having been brought down to the ground by the force of Taomon's final attack. Of the data type Shaman Digimon, there was no sign, which wasn't too surprising, and the moderators found they weren't too shocked to see that nearly all of the Gizmon they had brought along with them had been annihilated as well.

"Gah!" The blue one exclaimed, UlforceVeemon spreading out his great wins to move the rubble that had tried to bury them as the building collapsed. Looking out at the destruction he knew he had underestimated Eight Ball, the power of the Taomon's assault was beyond anything a Digimon, player or NPC, should ever possess.

" Ex-excuse me! Jet-kun! " A feminine voice called, causing the blue moderator to look in its direction.

" What? " He snorted in reply, dusting off his suit, a futile effort as there was no algorithm in place to make it dusty in the first place, making it more a gesture of his irritation.

" Could you help us a bit please? We're kind of stuck. " The voice returned, allowing Jet to pinpoint roughly where in the mess of shattered beams and stone and furniture his co-worker was buried.

With another irritated sigh, the blue moderator give a sharp jerk of his head to direct UlForceVeedramon, the great blue knight strode across what had once been the meeting room for the Nightmare Soldiers. Ignoring the noise of shifting rubble, Jet began comparing the wasted scene to the map the administrators had sent him, pacing around the area, he tried to find the passageway the Eight and the others had escaped through. Finding the spot, he began an internal debate, pondering whether to move it himself or to get UlForceVeedramon to do it once he'd unearthed the bubbly pain and her gold bug.

"Phhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeew-ee!" The girly voice exclaimed, scurrying out from under her partner who still held aloft the last of the wreckage, pushing it aside as she stood up straight. " Thank you very much, Jet-kun! " Cried the Kimono moderator, bowing deeply with a broad, yet apologetic, smile on her face.

" I take it you missed them ? " A disembodied voice joined the conversation, the pronunciation of it's Japanese imperfect, thanks in part to it's odd mix of accents, but definitely western.

" Duke-rin? " The girl cheered. " Where are you? " She looked around, trying to discern whether or not the charming moderator was nearby.

" I'm en-route to the exit of the target's escape route. " Duke responded, taking enough time to check his words before he said them. " The admins can't let me jump straight there as they're trying trap them, so I'm trying to cut them off the old fashioned way. Can you pursue them along the passageway. "

" No. . " Jet joined. " The passage is too small for UlForceVeedramon. " Indeed, the blue Royal Knight was clearing away the rubble and while it could accommodate some of the larger Digimon, one of UlForceVeedramon's size would never fit.

" I can go Duke-rin! " The cheery moderator raised her hand, like an excited child in class.

" Be careful Toku-tan. " Duke warned. " Jet-pi used up the current set up of Gizmon, we'll need a little while before we can load reinforcements. "

" Leave me from your dumb name game. " Jet snorted, motioning for UlForceVeemon to pick him up, the blue Digimon lifting him and placing him upon one pauldron. " I'll catch up in a few. Don't screw up Tokusatsu. " Tapping UlforceVeedramon, he muttered a short command before the great knight crouched, spread his grand wings, and then pushed into the air, rocketing off at high speeds, leaving Tokusatsu to sigh, before motioning to Mangamon, the golden Digimon nodding before striking a dramatic pose, launching into a high speed dash, grabbing her parter on the way past before diving down into the passageway.

---

On approach to the lift platform, Eight's eyes came back into focus as he resumed play.

"Major, have you managed to secure the Oscillation point?" Cait turned and asked the hacker as soon as he boarded the platform.

"Hm, oh, you meant me…" Eight looked up, his run slowing into a slightly jolly looking jog as he and the others filed onto the service lift. "Well, I have good news and bad news."

"If your good news concerns car insurance and Geico…" The adventurer's tone issued a clear warning for the hacker's usual nonsense.

"As if I would be _that _cliché." Eight retorted as the gears around them shuddered to life and the metal platform began to rise. "The good news is that the coffee boy must be serving de-café, because these suckers just can't keep up with me. The bad news is that before I'm finished running them into the ground, we're liable to have been murdered by the moderators."

"Didn't Taomon blow them up?" Sephy exclaimed.

"The Moderators are like agents of God in this world." Stoker's tone was sullen as he spoke for the first time within the tunnel. "I have no doubt the Brigadier Taomon was able to slow them with her efforts, but for a single ultimate to defeat a moderator…"

"Is impossible! Yes?" A cheery voice finished.

Part way up the shaft, the members of NS turned, unable to find the source of the voice before a bright flash of what could easily pass as golden sunlight burst through the centre of the lift, promptly followed by the armoured form of Mangamon, which flew up and by them all, Tokusatsu in tow, the pair stopping to hover above their prey, floating along with the rise of the lift in order to maintain a set distance.

"You know, it's not very often I hate being right, but under these circumstances…" Eight rambled, his eyes once more vacant as he worked on something separate once more, his avatar stood looking almost nonchalant with hands in pockets, as Sephy quite naturally pulled his digivice out.

** Name: Magnamon**

**Type: Vaccine**

**Level: Mega**

**Attack: **Magna Blast, Magna Explosion, Magna Punch, Magna Kick

"Toku-tan found them first!" The cheery kimono mod almost squealed, looking down upon her targets. "Jet-kun will be mad!"

"Oh great…the obligatory, cheery, hyper, Japanese, high-school student…" Min groaned.

"Great! The obligatory, cheery, hyper Japanese, high-school student!" Eight exclaimed.

"Magnamon-sama, go!" Tokusatsu cried, gesturing towards the group on the lift in a wild fashion as her partner curled up, the armour beginning to glow.

"Magnaaaa…" She almost growled.

"Grizzly," Myotsimon leapt into the air, fanning his cloak out, the fabric seeming to grow in order to obscure his troops.

"Blast!"

"Wing!"

Light erupted from Magnamon, the same bright blast of sunlight that had earlier ripped through the lift as a colossal swarm of bats poured out from Myotismon's cloak. The seemingly never ending stream of aerial rodents hurled themselves into oblivion against the moderator's attack, forming an effective shield as the light was unable to cut through all the bats, and the attack eventually burned out, Myotismon dropping back down as the light faded, looking as if he needed to get his breath back after competing with this high level foe.

"Everyone Digivolve!" Cait suddenly roared, pulling out his digivice. "We have to back the Brigadier-General up!"

"It's Morphing Time!" Eight cried, his eyes snapping back into focus as he whipped out his digivice.

"Dude…you totally just killed all the drama." Sephy groaned, poking the hacker in the side.

"Kids got no taste for classics." Eight sighed, summoning a dark purple aura around his hand while Tokusatsu giggled.

"Ikei!" She once more threw in a dramatic point at the Nightmare Soldiers. "Digi-Sentai Gold! Magnamon!"

"Komodomon/DemiDevimon/Strabimon/Shademon/Bulletmon/Lupmon Digivolve to…"

Golden light surrounded Magnamon as the bright lights of Evolution formed a rainbow upon the damaged lift, the soldier's summoning their strength, each filled with their own worry for the safety of their partners. Looking up at the golden Digimon, General Stoker hoped that it had been caught in Taomon's blast, hoping that it was weakened from full strength, and a baser part hoped for revenge.

"Brigadier-General Myotismon." His tone serious, but strained. "Begin combat operation."

"Yes sir!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Keyo: **Yes, this could have been longer, but I got distracted by trying to draw, so I kinda wound up deviating from my writing work, which is a bit of a pity seeing as I actually have an idea of what's going on just now.

Taomon blowing up the mansion has been planned for a while now, along with how much this all goes to hell. Personally, I'm just glad to have gotten Jet and Tokusatsu into this fic, Jet's a right pain in the a-eep, and Toku's just a sweetie. Tokusatsu is actually Japanese for 'Special Effects', and is used as the genre name for Super Sentai shows, like Power Rangers, of which she is a huge fan. And yes, Jet and Toku are Japanese, the game originates from their so it makes sense for some of the mods to be Japanese.

Now, before I have to say this in every review response, I'm saying it now. I **know** that Magnamon is a (Golden) Armour level Digimon. However, because the armour system doesn't exactly feature in this, I needed to use a different level, and as all the operators have Mega level partners (with Omnimon being a technical exception) Mega seemed appropriate.

**Raven: **I did not say the Japanese sounded dumb. Heck, I thought it was a cool hook. Keyo was worried that he didn't have enough of it in this chapter and thought he should add some more conversation between the two mods, and I told him that wouldn't be necessary, because there will be plenty of times when they can talk through the rest of the story. How he inferred me believing it to be dumb is anyone's guess.

While I felt this chapter was a tad short (then again, I read it in halves, so I didn't get the whole chapter at once like you readers), I absolutely love it, specifically because we get to bring in some more mods and, sadly, we say goodbye to Taomon. The Thousand Spell arson was something Keyo and I both thought of as a last-ditch effort in case the NS was overrun (and we knew it was going to be), and I loved it so much, I couldn't wait to see it light up. Toku was all Keyo's idea, and Jet was my monkiering. I see Jet similar to Kimbley from Full Metal Alchemist. Y'know, the psycho who turns everyone into bombs. He has no care for anyone, and is willing to sacrifice whoever is nearby to get the job done.

Since Keyo's spiel about Magnamon didn't seem to stop the perfectionists, let me try. Armor and Spirit levels do not exist in Digimon Online, simply because it's too much of a hassle to try and filter in in-between levels. The Digimon that would be Armor/Spirit level are there, but given one of the regular levels based on power. Digimentals and Spirits are probably in the game, but they are merely items that aid evolution to specific forms, like the items you could find in Digimon World 1. DNA Digivolution is possible, but is usually shown through a powerful team combo attack and is not permanent, save for Omnimon and his moderator perks. 

**Keyo & Raven.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Keyo:** The chapter is here! See the down below notes for all the reasons/excuses. For the record, a change in the ownership of characters and material was not the reason for the delay.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 23: Raid (pt7)

This isn't the Dungeon Boss we are looking for!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the recent collection of minutes many revelations had been placed before Dainya and Sephy, as well as their partners Bulletmon and Lupmon. They had all become aware that the Digimon were real, alive, for the players it was a broadening of their horizons, while for the Digimon themselves it meant a new type of understanding of their existence. And once again their perceptions of those they knew, particularly Cait and Komodomon, as well as the hacker Eight Ball, had been altered, as they learned of the cause they were working for, the necessary secrecy of their work, the risks their Digimon partners were taking with their lives to find the answers to their existence within this supposed game. There was still a lot they had to learn about the methods of the Nightmare Soldiers, and about the members themselves, for in finding that Cait and Komodomon had indeed always been their friends, that Min, DemiDevimon, Sythe and Agumon had harboured no ill towards them, left Dainya with a curiosity as to their lives, how they had come into this world and joined the NS as they abbreviated it. But as the light of Digivolution shone around them, it was clear now was not the time for questions and answers, because it was all in danger, and their backs were against the wall as, at long last, the moderators had succeeded in finding the soldiers, cornering them and were forcing them into the open to face their end. And with their escape route blocked, they had no choice left but to resort to one of a Digimon's most primal instincts.

To fight.

"Drakemon/Witchmon/Lobomon/Eclispsemon/Desperamon/Lykiomon/GeoGreymon!!!"

Before the beacons created by their evolution had a chance to settle, the warrior of light, Lobomon, had leapt forward, howling 'Licht Sieger' as he ignited his blades, lashing out at the golden moderator, Magnamon blocking each strike with her gauntlets, Lobomon somersaulting with his strikes to make the most of his momentum. In a swift motion, Magnamon lashed out and kicked the wolf knight in the gut, speeding his decent and sending him crashing back into the broad platform, before swinging one arm up to block Drakemon's Impact Claw attack as he attempted to strike from behind. Seizing the red fist, Magnamon prepared to deal with the dragon warrior in a similar fashion to Lobomon, and if she had been a sentient Digimon, she possibly would have evaded what came next upon seeing Drakemon's smirk. But she was not, and waves of black arms appeared from the shadow the red dragon cast as Eclipsemon made his move, pinning the moderator's partner.

"Impact Claw!" Drakemon roared as Cait swiped a speed modifier, encasing his partner in a blue glow as his free arm swung back and forth, beating Mangamon's armoured head again and again, causing it to swing around and back and forth, but without any real signs of damage.

Pushing out, Magnamon was able to wrench free of her bonds, at the same time releasing Drakemon's captive fist as the dragon drew back for a powerful straight, Mangaman's own fist meeting it as he swung. Despite all his power, Drakemon was completely overwhelmed by the Mega's natural might and was sent flying back, Elcipsemon's arms waving from his shadow as he was forced to join in on the crash landing. Striking at this turned back, GeoGreymon brought a massive claw to bear on the mega, slamming her into the ground, level difference or not, GeoGreymon was a force to be reckoned with. But Magnamon wasn't pinned for long, as she pushed up against GeoGreymon's claw, easily lifting it, before leaping to her feet and flipping the dinosaur over and away, before spinning to intercept Lobomon's renewed efforts at offence, the light blades slamming against her gauntlets again and again. Once more, Magnamon went to send the wolf warrior flying, only to be interrupted.

"Crimson Lightning!" Myotismon cried, dashing past, slashing at Magnamon with the red energy and allowing Lobomon to dart away before a green mist settled around the Golden Warrior as Witchmon summoned her Poison Storm, the attack beginning to infect the Mega as Myotismon pivoted, folding his long arms over his chest as he did so, his cloak seeming to wrap around him as well.

"Nightmare Claw!" His arms pushed the cape out, causing it to fan around him as a horrendous scream filled the air, a grizzly shadow launching forth and striking Magnamon, causing her gleaming armour to dull to grey, her skin following the same colour change as her stats began to rapidly fall.

"If the foe is too strong, then we make them weak." General Stoker's voice still sounded strained as he glared at Magnamon as his troops continued their effort, Desperamon and Lobomon teamed up, raining shots from Star Revolver and Licht Kugel upon their enemy.

Lining up, Lykiomon's eyes fluctuated between their round and slit state as she fought with her rationality, glaring and growling at the golden enemy, looking up as a rather battered Drakemon placed a claw on her back.

"Let 'er have it Luppy." He gave in a quiet growl, the wolf seeming to give a vicious grin before opening her jaws wide, Drakemon doing the same.

"Raksha's Cry!"

"Dragon Burn!"

The howling wind and the stream of flame mixed as they were launched, combining to form a stronger flame that seemed to roar as it crashed down upon Mangamon, the poisonous gas seeming to explode the intense heat washed over it, all of the Digimon possessing a ranged attack began to open fire, aiming for the point where Magnamon was trapped, hoping to drag his life down with the sheer volume of firepower.

"Magna Explosion!"

Golden light erupted out from the flames as the words were spoken, disrupting the attacks and repelling them as the light tore up the platform, the Nightmare Soldiers, Digimon and Player alike, fled the light, but to no avail. Although they escaped the attack itself, all were thrown to the walls of shaft by the sheer force the attack exerted, the shine that signalled devolution shone out as the champion level Digimon were all forced back to their rookie stages, lying battered upon the ground as the light faded, revealing Magnamon hovering in place, her armour a little battered and scuffed, but gleaming golden once more, the power of her attack having blown away the ill-effects of Myotismon's attack, her cold, lifeless eyes glaring straight out as Toku laughed, hovering a little above.

"Good fight." She beamed. "But is over now. Yes?"

"No!" Myotismon cried out in an almost feral roar, forgetting his composure for a moment and throwing himself at the golden moderator, light blossoming around him as Stoker rapidly began swiping every power-up card in his possession. They were the strongest and leading members of Nightmare Soldiers, Taomon had laid down her life to allow them to get this far, and they would not let it be in vain. "Crimson Lightning!"

Rather than make accurate strikes with a pair of the shining red energy whips, Myotismon brought his hands together and unleashed a single giant bolt of his signature attack, the crimson light smearing the air and staining the dimly lit, battered platform as he struck Magnamon, sending her flying the shaft, bring it bear again and again. The members of NS watched in awe as their Brigadier-General battered the Moderator's partner again and again with the great bloody stream, Magnamon's efforts to block with her arm-guards proving completely unsuccessful against the new power Myotismon was drawing on courtesy of his partner, until she was able to gain a moment to chamber a kick and lash out with a glowing limb.

"Magna Kick!" She cried, the two attacks slamming together in an explosion of light that disrupted Myotismon's energy and sent Magnamon spinning back as the vampire took flight, racing up into the air, a fresh Crimson Lightning attack streaming from one palm as he slammed it into the unprotected gut of his opponent, driving her up the remainder of the shaft and out into the open air, where Magnamon was able to break free before coming under assault from a rain of Crimson Lightning attacks as the Brigadier-General lashed out again and again with the long streams from each palm, fighting to keep his foe at a distance, and from getting into position to use a Magna Blast attack.

"Magnamon!" Tokusatsu spun and began to fly up after her partner.

"Major Eight-Ball, ETA on the Escalation Point." Cait turned to bark at the hacker while the others ran to the prone partners.

"Being a super genius means I can do everything, but not necessarily right at this very moment." Eight returned, the clacking of his keyboard could be heard as he spoke, his eyes still blank and his avatar looking rather silly as it simply lay on the floor, the hacker never having commanded it to move when Magnamon sent them all flying, or after. "The admins shut down all remote access to and from the Graveyard, it's why the mods aren't just warping in on us, they gave up easy access to cut down on the number of side-ways and by-ways I could try and use to get us out of…da-eep!"

"What happened?" Stoker cried, his face straining with the worry.

"Sorry, sorry, cat knocked my coffee all over my lap…gah…" The hacker continued to grumble, but as the sound of his keyboard could still be heard, it was clear that he wasn't going to be leaving his desk anytime soon.

Grumbling, Cait left the Eight to his work and made his way through the twisted metal of the still moving platform to reach Komodomon, who was lying flat on his back and taking in deep breaths.

"You okay Komo?" He asked, the front of the capable officer drooping for a few moments as he checked up on his partner.

"Just peachy…" Komodomon responded. "I was just goin' easy on her because she's a girl…" The red lizard chuckled.

"You're such a romantic." Cait grinned back, stooping to sit down by his partner and look up at the lights above as Magnamon and the powered up Myotismon clashed again and again.

"How many moderators are coming after us?"

Looking to his side, Cait tried to look some kind of positive as he looked to Dainya, who sat with an exhausted Lupmon nestled in her arms, her eyes upon her partner who only minutes ago she had found out was really was alive, worry disturbing her face as she feared for that life.

"At least two." Cait responded. "We know UlforceVeedramon is out there somewhere, and if he couldn't fit in the tunnel, he'll be flying here…"

"And he's the fastest of all the royal knights." The girl sighed sadly, Cait nodding in return. "Are we going to be able to get away?"

Cait thought about it for a few moments, looking at their odds in a realistic fashion. Magnamon alone had ripped apart the majority of their available forces, and was only now distracted because their strongest member was powered up and taking her on one on one. The moment UlforceVeedramon, or any other moderator, arrived, they would be overwhelmed and it would be the end for all of their partners, and of the Nightmare Soldiers. But then he smirked.

"You see Eight Ball over there?" He asked, pointing to the avatar of the infamous hacker, prompting Dainya to respond with a 'yeah'.

"That guy has the biggest ego in all of creation. I mean it, the amount of times I've had to listen to him bang on and on about how great he is, I really can't stand him. But, and here's why we actually keep him around, he is actually as good as he says he is, and he hates to lose. So with his pride on the line, and bragging rights, there's no way he's going to get beaten."

"So that whole fight in the ruins was an act?" Dainya asked, curiosity nagging at her as an escape from the peril her partner faced (and the possibly legal repercussions she could face.)

"You kiddin'?" Komodomon spoke up from his place on the floor. "That was all out. As if I would hold back against the Emogothmon." The red reptile snorted. "Shademon and Eight may be as good as they say, but we're better. Right Lupy?" Turning his head to the curled up form of the wolf, the Lieutenant grinned as he received a tired sounding 'Yeah, aniki' from his loyal follower, satisfied that she was indeed alright, before taking a deep breath in synchronization with his partner to ready his body as he proceeded to pull himself to his feet as the platform finally reached the summit of its climb, setting in place with a great 'kach-klunk'. "All that's left is to make sure these guys know it."

Taking some solace in the confidence exuded by the adventurers, Dainya followed their eyes up to the battle in the sky, hoping that Komodomon and Cait weren't bluffing.

---

Cape fluttering behind him, Gallantmon flew along, skimming close to the ground with his great lance and shield held to his side, his partner was crouched atop his left pauldron, one hand pressed against the knight's helm to keep steady. Scattered around them were five Gizmon of the XT level, the rough equivalent of ultimate for the vicious synthetic Digimon. Duke would have reflected on how he, unlike Jet, didn't pursue the overkill in every endeavor, but given the results the blue moderator had met with, an armada may have been justified, even if it hadn't proven successful.

'Still, relying on swathes of minions just isn't my style.' The moderator grinned, checking his map once more. 'Showing up the speed freak by getting here first however…'

Looking up, he could see the explosions of light as Magnamon and Myotismon duelled, and he sent the command for the Gizmon to move ahead, preparing to use them for intimidation before laying down the law and reading them their rights, well, such as they were under the end user agreement.

And then a white figure dropped from the sky and sliced one of the Gizmon in half.

"Excalibur!" A proud and noble voice rang out from the white Digimon, its wings spreading as it spun, cleaving through the next Gizmon along, keeping up the spin and folding its wings as it came to face the remaining three before, in a flurry of feathers, it opened its wings again and unleashed a wave of white light. "Soul Banish!" Was his cry as the bright attack obliterated his enemies. Slowing to a halt, Gallantmon placed his feet open the ground and raised his shield as he looked upon this new arrival, upon his shoulder Duke narrowed his eyes in concentration before speaking in a controlled, but curious, manner.

"The moderator in me wants to know how you were able to directly log in with the blockade on, but the player in me would much rather know why someone of your reputation would be interfering like this, Silver."

Stepping up alongside his partner, the armored player and hero of the PvP arena was completely calm as he looked up at the moderator, his partner, LordholyAngemon, raised his shining Excalibur blade and aimed it at the knight.

"I can't explain my reasoning to you moderator, but I must let you know that we will fight you if you persist in this endeavor."

"Once again the two sides of my soul come into confliction." The handsome moderator smirked. "Really, I should be following through on my duty and eliminate you along with Eight and his cronies. But the player I am knows that someone like you would never swear the defense of some real crooks." Gallantmon's shield lowered to one side.

"I thank you moderator." The knight like player bowed his head, prompting his partner to lower his sword.

"Not a problem, you're just adding to a really interesting mystery. Of course, I can't vouch for Toku and Jet, they're on their own for that one."

"Don't worry, they will not fall here." The knight nodded, looking over towards the lights.

---

"Magnamon-Sama! We better hurry up!" Toku called, signalling to her partner who promptly spun in the air, lashing out with a shining 'Magna Kick', shattering Myotismon's attacks and leaving the vampire open.

As the Brigadier-General of the Nightmare Soldiers made to recover, his subordinates and General watching with dawning horror, Mangamon flipped backwards before rushing forward, her armour beginning to shine and she prepared to land a deceive blow upon the virus type.

"Magna Ex…"

Two missiles cut off the vaccine's charge, their collision causing an explosion that sent her flying backwards as the charging energy of her own attack was detonated, and as the noise quieted, the sound of a banjo could be heard.

"Oh I don't believe this…" Sythe grumbled, not even needing to look for the origin of the attack to know who had sent it.

"Oh wow." Sephy muttered, lifting his digivice to scan yet another rather iconic origin Digimon.

** MetalGreymon**

**Type: Vaccine**

**Level: Ultimate**

**Attack: **Giga Destroyer, Trident Claw.

With the thin, tattered purple wings that somehow kept the great dinosaur aloft spread out, Metalgreymon descended into the air space of the battlefield, atop the metal casing of his head sat a figure who was certain to be his partner, clad in a bright yukata and a broad conical hat. A banjo was in his hands as he plucked away at it. When they were low enough, he stopped playing and gathered up something that lay in his lap before sliding down his partners arm and landing amongst the Nightmare Soldiers.

"Lieutenant Kazoo." General Stoker nodded stiffly, but relief was clear upon his worn features.

"This guy looks familiar…" Dainya muttered.

"His plinky sounded familiar too…" Lupmon contributed.

"Sorry I'm so late General Stoker." The player bowed, mindful of what was nestled in his arm before stepping closer. "I had to catch a ride and make a quick pick up too."

Stoker gave the officer a puzzled look before seeing what he was carrying, and for a moment his composure wavered before he gladly accepted the small yellow bundle into his arms, holding it close to his chest before looking to the rather odd looking officer and giving a silent thank you.

"Hey, is that…" Min began; taking note of the way the yellow ball seemed to move.

"It is!" Dainya suddenly exclaimed. "You're that guy who wanted to charge me a small fortune for catching the tail end of a tune!"

"Yup." Kazoo turned and tipped his large hat at her in a gentlemanly fashion. "And for coming to your rescue it's going to cost you exactly one hundre…"

A smart blow to the back of his head silenced the effort extortion as Sythe glared at the lieutenant.

"Magnamon's still about to kill us, you haven't rescued us yet you great berk." She scolded, as if part of a familiar routine.

"Yes, yes." Kazoo muttered, turning to look to the sky. "MetalGreymon, the show's all yours!"

"Solo time." The mecha-dinosaur rumbled, the silos on his chest opening up as he took aim at Magnamon. "Giga Destroyer!"

The organic looking missiles erupted out form his torso and flew with speed at their target, but being ready for them, Magnamon was able to easily dodge this time, quickly shifting to avoid an incoming Crimson Lightning from Myotismon before throwing her arms wide and summoning a golden aura.

"Magna…"

And then she vanished, no sign left of her or her partner.

"I am the smartest man alive!" Eight suddenly gave a great whoop, his avatar launching back upon its feet, startling Shademon who sat too near. "Oh yes, even if I just referenced Adam Sandler, I'll make up for it with Muhammad Ali…I am the greatest!" He cried to the sky, throwing his fists up as if he were a champion boxer.

"I take it this means you have managed to acquire an escape route for us?" Myotismon asked as he landed, MetalGreymon settling in beside him.

"Not only that, I've got complete control of the program." Eight swelled with pride. "So I'm not just going to send us somewhere but I'll also…"

"Whatever it is, do it now." Myotismon lifted a palm to silence Eight's big mouth.

"As you wish." The hacker sighed, and without any pomp or ceremony, the Nightmare Soldiers vanished.

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Raven: **oogles Lekismon

What? Oh, sorry. Digimon World: Dusk came in yesterday, and I've been playing almost nonstop. My cute little Lunamon (Who stole one of our names, let it be known!) is now in her Champion Lekismon, and my SkullGreymon and black WereGarurumon were reduced to a lowly Monocromon and Minotaurmon, respectfully. I'm not going to go into massive details, but it is a very solid game, and much more addictive than that _other _pet monster game. Of course, hot women with armor that fits an animal motif helps.

And now we show you just how many people that Dainya has met knew of the NS. The game's most famous PKKer is friends with them, and even a random passerby happens to be in league with them. Who's next, the cheery airhostess that Dainya met at the start of the game? By the time we realized everyone was in league with NS except Dainya and Sephy, we really felt sorry for our heroine.

For those of you who like the Trivia articles on Wikipedia, Kazoo's name is a reference to Banjo-Kazooie (since he's always seen holding a banjo). His appearance was almost directly plaugerised from Kisuke Arahara from Bleach, and his personality is…aloof, would be the word I'm thinking of.

We apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I would just like to say it's not my fault this time.

**Keyo:** Or mine!

Well…not all mine.

I will admit that this was actually finished on Tuesday, but from Friday my internet was down so anything I had written couldn't be posted. So in short, blame monkeys' and their evil fasces flinging.

What can I say, I'm glad our battle arc is over and I get to do a bit of character stuff again. This fight was a pain in the ass because so many people were involved and it was hard to keep track of them all, thankfully I get to make the cast pocket again for awhile before creampuffs hit the fan again. Also, just so I can try and cut down on the number of times I will need to say this, I know that some of you won't recognise the names for MetalGreymon's attacks. This is another example of me picking and choosing what names to use, in thise case the Japanese sounded a bit more hardcore.

Not much else to say, Raid should be wrapping up next chapter (with a bit of luck I may even have it up on time.) though I do have a question for you all regarding the root of many a fan fiction…Pairings.

I'm interested in hearing what sort of pairings you think will crop up in this story, would like to see, or believe should never be spoken of under pain of death and dismemberment (not necessarily in that order.)

Until the next update, take care.

**Raven & Keyo.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Keyo:** All property is still the property of those it is property of, and all excuses are still down at the bottom. As well as a **SPECIAL** shoutout.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 24: We just escaped destruction!

We seriously didn't have time to name this!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Having survived their closest every brush with Extinction, the Nightmare Soldiers, courtesy of Eight's control of the Oscillation System, had warped to the crowded streets of Hard-drive City, a bustling Metropolis on the Coast of File Island. With all the Digimon returning to their rookie states, a sense of calm washed over the more experienced members as General Stoker, still shielding the yellow object in his arms, had turned to the infamous hacker.

"Are we…?" Was all he asked, not daring to mention too many words, but, despite a degree of emotional stain obvious to those who knew him, it sounded perfectly calm, like a party member checking to see if they were in the right place.

"We're fine." Eight nodded. "The cat's in her cradle and we just gave those guys the wooden spoon."

"Doesn't the song involve a silver spoon?" Min interjected.

"Yes. But I'm being witty." Eight brushed her off.

"Isn't a city like this a little…risky?" Dainya's question caught Min's attention away from teasing the recently demoted officer.

"Not at all. With this many players around, and with Mr Ego here crippling their search, it'll make it a lot harder for them to find us." She explained.

"And even if they did, they're too cowardly to release those beasts they call Gizmon into a crowd." Shademon finished as he lurked within Eight's shadow, giving all around him, NS, Player, and NPC alike, a rather venomous glance before slinking back into the darkness.

Taking a little step back due to Shademon's rather disturbing frankness, Dainya turned to say something to Cait, withdrew as her mind went blank, and then pushed forward again only to realize that the adventurer was staring intently at his leader, who seemed to be nursing the fluff of yellow in his arms.

"Sir…is…is that…?" Was all he could say, his voice catching a little as he pointed towards the bundle, looking up, Stoker gave a brief nod before looking down again, being swift so as not to reveal what emotions lay upon his aged features.

"Ohmygod!" Min clapped her hands to her mouth, before turning and pointing at Kazoo, retracting her arm, and then throwing herself upon the banjo carrying player, holding him tight and practically squealing into his shoulder, pulling him off the ground and swinging him around. "Your crazy, irritating, wonderful man!" She cried, letting him go and pulling his head in close and kissing it, before dipping down and picking his Agumon partner up and giving him the same treatment. "Oh, if I didn't hate banjos and wasn't into furries I'd throw myself upon you both!"

"Well, I don't think we'd charge you that much for our service." Kazoo grinned, straightening his hat.

"What's going on?" Sephy scratched his head, looking at Min's explosion of emotion and gratitude.

Stepping up to his General, Cait took in the almost childish smile upon his face before looking down at the bundle in his arms and letting out a huge sigh of relief, turning and beaming at Komodomon, then to Sythe and her partner.

"She's…it's…"

"When the Brigadier lit up her big final attack, I had just managed to hitch a ride into the mansion. With the great mess she caused, the moderators didn't notice Agumon and me make our move and…"

"She's alive…" Brigadier-General DemiDevimon (looking far less regal than his ultimate form) smiled from his position upon his partner's shoulder. "Taomon is alive."

"In a manner of speaking." Agumon added, Min having stopped spinning him now.

**Viximon**

**Type: Data**

**Level: In-Training**

**Attacks: **Killing Stone

"Oh sure, I go and perform some immensely ridiculously complex programming and hacking work he just goes and…ah forget it, good work music box." Eight relented, clapping the banjo player on the back.

A moment of quiet elation fell over the group as they took relief in the sight of the exhausted, sleeping, in-training level Digimon, the peace suddenly broken as Komodomon had begun to laugh.

"What's so funny Aniki?" Lupmon inquired, head tilting in its usual confused fashion.

"We just went total action hero on those guys!" The dragon exclaimed. "We kicked butt and we all got away with our lives! We totally rock!"

Smiles began to spread through the group, and many burst out laughing. It was the sort of thing that would have attracted a lot more attention in real life, but when there are people dancing in their underwear only a few feet from you…

Letting herself laugh as well, Dainya couldn't believe they had pulled it off. The NS were certainly amazing people, and the relief they shared over their Brigadier-General's survival was a good marker of how close they all were, even Eight had let his ego go for a moment to celebrate it. Looking around the group, she spotted Cait, laughing along with the others, only to stop as soon as he noticed her and once more tuck his face away, as if trying to avoid her.

"Cait's a bit…sensitive." Dainya turned as Sythe clapped a hand down on her shoulder. "He's never been comfortable with keeping you in the dark and after Eight's little stunt at the Garden…well…he's kinda been beating himself up, feeling as if he betrayed you."

"Re…really?" Dainya stammered, beginning to feel guilty herself.

"Don't go all emo too," Sythe warned with a stern finger wagging as she through the other arm around Dainya's shoulder. "Just let him know you aren't pissed off at him, the guy's got a lot on his shoulders and he's going to be needing our support, so go kiss and make up 'kay?"

"Okay…thanks Sy…did you say kiss?"

Before Dainya could press Sythe on her teasing, Stoker spoke out, switching to private chat so that only his troops could hear what was said, and his tone was once again that of the strong leader of the Nightmare Soldiers.

"Listen up everyone. We aren't safe here, the moderators were somehow able to locate our headquarters and there's a fair chance they will be able to find our location now. We must log off until Eight is able to establish new security for our accounts, and preferably a new secure headquarters."

"Oh sure," Eight whined. "Demote me but keep giving me all of the hard-work." The hacker immediately received a very harsh look from his General, the sort of look that said 'there are ranks below major waiting for you'. "I'll have it done by tomorrow lunchtime."

"All Digimon, you'll be left to operate on your own while we're offline. Remain in contact by avoid rousing suspicion." Stoker resumed issuing orders. "We've lost the Mansion so you'll have to try and find other secure locations to remain hidden in."

"Remain hidden?" Dainya whispered across to Sythe. "Does that mean Lupmon's been running around when I haven't been playing?"

"You clearly haven't seen the 'Chasing her tail' thread on the forums. Some players found Lupmon running in circles for a whole hour one day and wondered what the hell it was all about." Sythe grinned, as Dainya turned red and glanced at her partner, who only beamed back in her doggy fashion.

"We'll reconvene once the all clear has been given. I also want to find out how the moderators were able to locate our base of operations. It may be a leak, or it may have been some new software, but I want answers and I want security." Stoker continued, the word 'leak' coming out with particularly personal venom over the prospect of a traitor.

"Yes sir!" The soldiers responded, Dainya, Sephy and Lupmon trailing a little, while Bulletmon was in perfect timing with the others.

"Brigadier-General DemiDevimon, Lieutenant Komodomon…" The devil bat dropped off of his partner's shoulder to settle on the dragon's head. "Please, guard her with your life." The General's voiced softened with concern as he passed the bundle that was Viximon to the red Digimon, who proceeded to handle her with near equal care.

"You have my word, General Stoker." DemiDevimon bowed.

"Soldiers, log out!" Stoker's command was issued, and with a resounding 'Yes sir!' the troops began to vanish, the words 'Log Out' appearing where they had once stood, Dainya and Sephy hesitating.

"Dainya I…" The goggle wearing child began.

"Cait wait!" Dainya waved but the adventurer was already gone. "Damnit…"

"Dainya I nee…"

"Privates." Brigadier-General DemiDevimon caught their attention. "I believe you were given an order."

"Y-yes sir!" The two rookies almost squeaked, before selecting their own log out commands and vanishing.

Flapping her wings, Min's partner settled herself upon Lupmon's head, looking across at the Brigadier General on his perch atop Komodomon.

"Hey boss. Wanna drag?" She snickered, prompting her superior officer to sigh.

---

Pulling off the helmet, Dainya sighed, which then grew into a yawn. Looking down at the clock display on her desktop, she realised her playing (could she actually call it that?) had spilled over midnight.

"Wish I could have ta-ahhhhkhed to Cait a bit…" She let her jaw hang as she yawned. "Kinda the whole reason I decided to go tonight…" Getting up and stretching, she let out a prolonged 'hmmmm' as she decided to hit the proverbial sack, unsure if she would be able to sleep. Having a real life Digimon partner was something she'd fantasized about since she had first seen the original adventures of the Digidestined, and now she had found out that there really were Digimon, and she was right in the middle of a genuine adventure! Well, maybe not right in the middle, she couldn't actually get hurt in the games world, but she was going to be delving into a great mystery with Lupmon at her side and friends like Cait and Komodomon, Sythe and Agumon, Min and DemiDevimon, oh, and Sephy and Bulletmon of course, babysitting was going to be a bit more interesting from now on. Leaning down, she moved to switch off her computer when an instant message appeared on the screen.

**WildCait: **Dainya?

Dropping back in her seat, Dainya promptly ignored her fatigue and set her fingers to the keyboard, enough sense remaining in her tired brain to prompt her to type softly, so as to not disturb her mother.

**Angewomon279: **Cait? Is that you?

**WildCait: **Yeah…Sythe sent me a message saying you wanted to talk to me?

Taking a small moment for her brain to catch up, Dainya silently forgave the aggressive player for her teasing, glad to be able to speak with the adventurer.

**Angewomon279:** Yes. I just wanted to say-

Looking at the type box, Tanya wondered exactly what it was she wanted to say. She wanted to let him know she wasn't mad at him, that she forgave him for being sneaky, but how was it best to phrase it all? Tapping the delete key, she erased her words and began typing again.

**Angewomon279: **Sythe told me that-

Was it best to say that Sythe had told her? She didn't want to get her friend in bother, and she didn't want to make Cait anymore uncomfortable than he already was, making it sound like he had been tattled on probably wasn't the best way to go about doing it. As another soft 'bleep' sounded, Dainya realized she had been stalling so much Cait had sent her another message.

**WildCait:** Dainya? Are we still connected?

Brining her fingers to bear on the keyboard, Tanya once more deleted her current message and began to type again as another message appeared on the screen.

**WildCait:** If what Sythe told me was just some prank I'm sorry for bothering you. I'm also really sorry for how I treated you and hid things from you.

**Angewomon279:** It wasn't!

Composing herself, Dainya began to construct a proper reply.

**Angewomon279: **I do want to talk with you.

**Angewomon279: **I wanted to

What did she want to say…smiling to herself; Tanya was able to find the exact words.

**Angewomon279: **I wanted to say thank you.

**WildCait: **'Thank you'?

**Angewomon279:** For brining me to the NS and for taking the time to get to know Lupmon and me. I understand you had a lot of pressure on your shoulders to keep everyone safe, and it can't have been easy to keep everything a secret from us.

A moment of silence ensued. No bleeps and Tanya found herself drumming her nails upon her desk as she waited for Cait's response, hoping she hadn't inadvertently upset him. She wanted to go back to being friend's with the adventurer, as well as being his subordinate, it had only been a night ago since his apparent betrayal, but the weight of the gloom had made a physical impact on, and if what Sythe had said about him was true, it was likely Cait had been carrying around a similar burden. Finally, a bleep came.

**WildCait:** Yeah…it was. I wanted to tell you, but despite my personal views on you, I couldn't be sure how you would react, and as Lieutenant Colonel, the security of the Nightmare Soldiers had to come first. I could provide no guarantee that you wouldn't go and inform the moderators causing, well, something like tonight to happen.

**Angewomon279:** I understand. It's been a lot to take in tonight.

Tanya sighed, wasn't that the truth?

**WildCait:** So…I'm really sorry for what I put you through.

**Angewomon279: **Don't be! You were just looking out for the Digimon.

The guy had actual lives to protect, knowing that, it was very easy for Tanya to get over his secrecy and deceptions, she wondered if she would have the fortitude to do the same now that she had begun carrying the responsibility of being a member.

**Angewomon279: **So…friends?

**WildCait:** Friends.

Grinning, Dainya typed up her response.

**Angewomon279:** Pinkie Promise!

**WildCait: **-Pinkie Promises-

Giggling, Tanya felt the last of her gloom of the past day dissipate. She had uncovered the mystery and fantastic secret of the Nightmare Soldiers, they had escaped the moderators, and all of them, and she and Cait were back to where they started. Forgetting the time, Tanya continued her typing, letting herself fall into the conversation.

**Angewomon279: **-Pinkie Promises too-

---

"Tanya Mills!"

Groaning, Tanya lifted her head from where it rested in her palm, blinking her eyes blearily. She was just able to make out the fuzzy form of her teacher and her ears began to put together the noise that was around her. What was it? It sounded rather like laughing…someone…a lot of someone…they were laughing…what was so funny?

When her brain caught up, Tanya had the decency to look embarrassed as she realized she had once more fallen asleep in class. Looking up at her teacher before hanging her head, Tanya resisted the urge to rub one of her dark bag laden eyes as she apologized.

"Sorry Mrs Thatcher."

"I should hope so." Mrs Thatcher responded in her usual stern tone. "Once more and I'll be forced to give you detention." Turning, she stalked back to the front of her desk in her usual predatory fashion. Despite being a small aged woman, the walk truly suited the terrifying visage she was for all students, fair, but stern and hard as nails, Mrs Julia Thatcher tended to strike fear into the hearts of all delinquents. It was probably this that prompted Tanya to start jabbing herself in the leg with a pencil to keep alert, just catching a glance of Charley pointing to where drool had dribbled down her chin, causing the young girl to blush deeper before wiping it off.

"Now, where was I…" Mrs Thatcher took a moment to observe the blackboard before her. "Ah yes. Now, many people in the past have sought to change the world around them, all motivated by their view of a better world. A lot of people frown on those with minds for big changes, but organizations like the W.W.F and Friends of the Earth are of this token, you could even view the U.N in the same light, and of course, the famous suffrage movements for equal rights for the sexes and races."

'Or the N.S' Dainya thought in a lucid moment, before pricking herself again.

"But there are those who stray much closer to being radicals. The suffragettes in Britain during the early 20th centaury committed acts of vandalism to pursue attention for their cause, and groups like the I.R.A and the A.o.T were known to go much further, causing death and destruction in order to try and force the changes they wanted in the world, thankfully the I.R.A has moved to more peaceful applications now that relations between the North and South of Ireland have settled and the A.o.T were brought down by the UN."

As her modern studies teacher carried on detailing the lengths many organizations had gone to for their goals, the people they had hurt, Tanya found herself again experiencing concerns for what she may wind up doing as part of the Nightmare Soldiers. They hardly operated under the most peaceful of names, (though, to be cliché, one should never judge a book by its cover…or title.) and she knew that with the way they were violating their end-user agreements, criminal charges could be pressed, not to mention the fact that a notorious hacker was part of their organization.

But, she had faith in Cait and the others, those she could call her friends, she was sure they wouldn't be doing this if they weren't sure they could avoid causing anyone harm. Trying to settle back into the lesson, and stay awake, Tanya ignored the little voice that said 'and how many others have thought like that.'

---

In the world of Digimon Online, Duke was renowned as the most charismatic of the moderators, and was a favoured piece of eye candy for all the female players and the male ones who 'swung-that-way' and his real life counterpart was no less a heart-throb. A tanned skin tone, thick black hair neat enough to be tidy, ruffled enough to be playful, clad in a bright white tee-shirt and a neat dark sports jacket, Juan swept into the US division of Pandai's office, a paper bag sat in the crook of his arm and he unleashed his dazzling smile upon the programmers, who returned the smile, unable to resist the charming aura the moderator exuded.

It was at this moment the door to Cecil's office swung open and the form of the flustered programmer Mary stormed out, her mousy brown hair finding itself being clawed at as soon as the door closed as the woman seethed in frustration at her infuriating boss.

"That arrogant, stuck up…Oh! Hello again Mr. Miguel." Mary switched tracks as soon as she caught sight of the dashing moderator, taking a moment to be self-conscious and smooth her hair down as a blush filtered onto her cheeks.

"Hello to you to Miss Weathers." Juan smiled in response. "Are you settling in alright? Cecil isn't being too big a pain is he?"

"Oh I'm doing just fine Mr. Miguel and…no…no he isn't." She took a quick glance at the door, which still held the deep mark from where she had hurled a paperweight at it the day before, but continued to figuratively bite her tongue in an effort not to look disgruntled before her crush.

"You don't have to lie to me, I'm his best friend, I know he's a totally jack ass. But don't worry, I've brought some goodies so he should be somewhat more pacified for the rest of the afternoon." The paper bag was jostled in order to demonstrate his point. "Take care, Miss Weathers."

Moving to the door, he paused as the girl put forward a question of her own.

"Ummm…sir? Not to pry or anything, but why have you been bringing Mr Jones these…'goodies'?"

"Very simple Miss Weathers." Juan beamed. "They're bribes."

Swinging into Cecil's office, Juan counted down the seconds in his mind before the lead programmer started talking.

'2…1…'

"Bribes? What ever happened to simply being generous towards friends?" The programmer quipped from behind his desk.

"Because simply being generous wouldn't help me persuade you to give me Grani in the expansion." Juan returned with a wry smile. "And how do you do that…thing where you hear what's going on outside your office."

"You've been hanging around me too long." Cecil grinned. "And I'm not telling." Pushing back his office chair and moving around his desk to greet his friend, the two exchanging a brief 'man-hug', complete with back-slapping (which left the scrawny geek a little sore, given his absolute lack of muscle tone, as opposed to his more dashing counterpart, whom Cecil often figured must bench-press his monster of a computer.) "So what ya' got for me today?" The programmer asked, snatching up the paper bag and rooting through the contents while Juan moved towards the covered windows at the back of the room.

"Geeze Cecil, do you get any sunlight exposure?" The moderator groaned, reaching up to pull down the walls scrolls that hung up, covering the office windows.

"No, no! Sunlight bad!" Cecil whined, dropping the paper bag down on his desk. "Sunlight very bad! Very, very bad!" Finding himself ignored, and in no way able to physically overpower his friend, Cecil resorted to sinking into his chair crying 'I'm melting' in a dramatic fashion, carrying his performance through to the point where he lay twitching with only the occasional groan before sliding almost all the way off and going silent with a final gasping sigh.

"Stop being so melodramatic, and the Witch melted from water." Juan chided.

"That's just what the government wants you to think." Cecil warned with mock seriousness as he sat back up, spinning back to face his desk and once more pulled the paper bag up close to root through. "Oooh! Pocky!"

As his friend cracked open the first of the 3 case boxes of the confectionary treat, Juan looked around the mess that was the office, before giving up on finding a seat and settling for leaning back against the wall.

"So how did the assault run last night go?" Cecil suddenly asked, having finished sniffing the green tea flavoured Pocky carton.

"How did you find out about that?" Juan cocked an eyebrow.

"When the Japanese team lost track of Bowling Ball, or whatever his name is, they ate some humble pie and asked us to help." Cecil gesticulated with a Pocky stick before sticking it his mouth and biting down, savouring the taste and the 'pokkin' noise with a satisfied 'Mmmmmm.'

"And you couldn't find him either." Juan smirked.

"I didn't find him because he wasn't there to be found." Cecil wagged the remainder of the Pocky at Juan before taking a few bits to break it down and promptly chewed and swallowed. "Those guys in the east just couldn't admit they'd been outwitted and that I'm the only true genius within Pandai!" Smiling, the programmer tilted his chair's backrest a little.

"I'm getting the feeling that this one isn't just about the land of mini-skirts and Pocky." Juan let his tone get a little more serious.

"Damn straight." Cecil nodded, devouring another Pocky stick. "We both know I'm a genius, right?" Juan scratched his nose in reply. "C'mon. I'm being serious here."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry."

"Thank you."

A moment of silence settled in, leading up to Cecil prompting his friend on with a roll of his hands.

"Ugh…fine. Yes, you are a genius."

"Thank you." Cecil let the chair snap back into being upright, settling his elbows on his desk. "Now, here's the thing. I keep hearing about how great and amazing Tennis Ball is, and I know that everything he's ever pulled off is what I would consider to be an amusing personal project. Yet here I am, barely receiving a hint of the recognition I deserve for my unbridled awesomeness, scraping a living on dirty Pocky by dangling my best friend's dream an inch before his nose." Nibbling on another piece of Pocky, Cecil resumed his ranting. "Okay, so it was a bit about mini-skirts and Pocky, but what isn't with me?"

"Yah." Juan conceded.

"Typically with this job, the biggest challenge in my life is trying to keep up with the ridiculous deadlines they set me. To be able to rip apart a hacker icon like Gag Ball…"

"You're taking the ball thing a little too far now." Juan cut in.

"Yeah, you're right. Anyway, to rip him apart would more be for pride rather than in pursuit of my transfer. But I'd have proven to everyone that I'm the true number one in the world."

"I thought you didn't care about what people thought of you?"

"Oh I do. I just happen to not want them all to like me, I won't even make them give me a statue when they all finally realise how great I am." Cecil grinned, sticking another Pocky stick in his mouth and biting down. "Pokkin!" He beamed as Juan shook his head, grinning and accepting the Pocky he was offered.

"Pokkin." He toasted back, munching down himself.

---

**Raven: **An Airdramon! An Airdramon! My kingdom for an Airdramon!

I'm trying to turn the Cyberdramon in my copy of DW: Dusk into a Darkdramon, and to do that, I need to devolve him all the way back to Monochromon and then take him down the Airdramon line. Problem is, in order to have any digimon evolve into Airdramon, I need to already have him. Yes it sucks. So if any of you have a copy and wanna match me a Digi-egg that can net me Airdramon, PM me (I think PMs work on this site, and remember, the name is Eisen Raven) and I'll see if I can make Keyo throw you in a cameo or something. No promises.

Anyway, back to the chapter. Taomon's not dead! It will probably take her forever to get back to Taomon, but at least we can be happy in her lack of demise. And ain't Cecil just grand? You know, he reminds me a lot of Edward from Cowboy Bebop, hyperactive (at least when it comes to being dramatic), nonsensical, and really good with computers. I can't wait to see him and Eight Ball have a face off. And to answer DragonChad's question that was brought up after this chapter was posted, we do plan on giving Cecil a partner, but I don't wanna say anything right now, as it will spoil the surprise.

Thank you everyone for the wonderful support you've shown Keyo and me in this endeavor. It feels really good knowing that you enjoy (heck, some of you even love) these characters I make, and the scenarios and dangers Keyo places them in. CrazyEight has been so awesome in his proof-readings, and DragonChad has given us some awesome questions that I love answering. Alphamech, while your reviews are short and to the point, it feels awesome knowing you're always there appreciating our work. May you enjoy the next chapter (the big 2-5!) and may we not screw it up.

And now I lay me down to sleep. Seesh, I think I got a relapse of long notes. 

**Keyo: **My week hasn't exactly been hectic, but I've been having a few problems adapting back to my University life as well as the fact that I now actually have a life again (my good friend and proof reader CrazyEight has had a much more hectic time. As a matter of fact, this is the chapter's second posting as I put it up, and tore it down as he had managed to squeeze in the proof reading having only had the chapter for a few hours. So everyone be sure to read his amazing works as thanks okay?

Taomon not being dead is something I wondered about as I wrote, if it was truly the best decision, but damn it, I'm helluva mean to these guys later in the story and I really like her.

The scene with Juan and Cecil was fun to write, and really got my writing fire burning again. Cecil competes with Eight for how much fun I have with his dialogue (quite fitting given Cecil's view on the hacker). For those of you who have forgotten, Juan is Duke's real name, and Cecil is the American programmer who has appeared twice so far. The meaning of 'pokkin' has also previously been discussed.

Interesting titbit, the number in Tanya's screen name is taken from '27th of September', or '27/9', the last date that Chapter 1 of 'Of Blood and Binary' was modified before I posted it. (also where it's mentioned that she's a fan of Angewomon.)

**SPECIAL **shoutout:

On the last chapter we finally broke the 100 chapter barrier, making this not only the first long running piece of work I've stuck with, but the first to break triple digits. I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, without you all cheering us on I'd never be able to keep up the will to right. This applies especially as ever to CrazyEight, who has been a major support in writing this, as well as DragonChad4, who has reviewed every chapter we've written and has been a significant driving force for me to be able to write. (We authors really can't go on without reviews for inspiration.) Thanks you guys!

See you next update!

**Keyo & Raven.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Keyo:** Updates, you are beautiful! Updates, you are beautiful! With your notes in all the right places!

Do we really have to keep saying we don't own Digimon?

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Chapter 25: Horizon count down!

Baggage check before the new frontier!

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As the bell rang, Tanya gathered up her things in a far more hurried fashion than normal, cramming them into her bag before throwing it over one shoulder and making a dash for the door, only to skid to a halt as her books and paper spilled back out to crash down upon the floor.

"Oh snap!" She seemed to exhale, rather than say, dropping down and once more sticking things haphazardly back into the pink pack, growing frustrated, as they seemed to refuse to fit.

"Calm down Tanny." Charley stooped to help her friend, pulling her hands away from the books and reorganising them so they would fit. "Honestly, you've been rushing around like a madwoman being chased by a mob of flamingo's recently. What gives?"

"Sorry Charley." Tanya apologised, pulling her bag up onto her back. "I've been sorta, kinda, busy recently." She explained as they began to walk out, albeit at a brisk pace.

"This about that game of yours again?" Charley narrowed her eyes a little, supplementing it with a friendly prod to the shoulder.

Five days ago Tanya had joined the Nightmare Soldiers organization and had been sworn to absolute secrecy in regards to their existence. The problem was, that she was a rather terrible liar, especially when it came to her best friend. The gears in her brain jutting and whirring, she struggled to pull together an excuse, before finding she couldn't and settled for stammering out little, teeny bits of truth.

"Well, yes, b-but it's been nothing bad! That all got sorted out, and I would have been stuck in that funk forever if you hadn't dragged me out and, and…"

"Tanny, you're hyperventilating." Charley placed her hands on her friend's shoulders, forcing them to stop. "Deep breaths girl, deep breaths."

Placing a hand over her heart, Tanya followed the cheerleader's command and brought her breathing back under control. Nodding that she was okay, Charlie gave her a checking glance before releasing her friend and resuming the walk, adjusting her duffel bag as she did so.

"Okay, okay I get it. So what is it that's got you so worked up these days? Is it that 40 year old pervert of yours?"

"The, geh….NO!" Tanya cried, halting briefly to give her friend an incredulous look with a flushed red face, before giving a small huff and quickly shoving her glasses back up her nose. "Okay it does involve him, but he's not a 40 year old pervert…" She muttered beneath her breath.

"Ah I knew it." Charley grinned, prompting her friend back into motion by patting her on the back. "So are you up to some illicit…" Catching her friend's glowering look, Charley caught on and stopped her teasing. "So what have you been up to anyway that's got you so busy?"

"Er well, I joined his guild and we've, ehm, we've been trying to put together a private event for the release of the new expansion." Tanya felt alright saying it, and it wasn't exactly a lie, and Cait had helped her rehearse the excuse a good few times during their last sortie.

"Well, as long as he's not got you dancing naked for him." Charley let the wicked smile grow back on her face before breaking into a run. "And speaking of events I've got to get to cheer practice, see you tomorrow!"

"Charley! You…you…grah!" Tanya exclaimed, before turning and storming out towards the exit, her friend's laughter ringing in her ears.

---

Sitting in the lunch hall, Vincent passed a concerned look to Liz before leaning over the table and poking the sagging form of their friend and child genius, Jan Tepes, who promptly released an unearthly groan of such dismal proportions that it actually caused his two friends to shudder.

"He's been like this all day. You don't think he's died and become one of the living dead do you?" Vincent asked the girl, sounding all too serious about the proposal.

"Well, zombies certainly would be drawn to that big juicy brain of his." Liz returned with almost equal serious consideration.

"Shouldn't you be careful as well then? I mean if they're targeting A-Grade students then you're definitely on the list." The brown haired boy warned.

"Cofffeeee…" Jan droned, making Liz and Vincent Jump, his head rolling up before dropping back down to rest against his chest.

A plastic cup was then placed down on the table before him as Richard, appearing from nowhere as usual, took his seat beside the boy. Gratefully, and with an almost surprising burst of speed, Jan reached out and snatched the cup before beginning what was to be a long sip, his expression changing from deep satisfaction to irritation in rapid succession as his sip was suddenly shortened and he pulled back the cup and gulped down what was in his mouth.

"This isn't coffee!" The child prodigy exclaimed, taking an aghast look at the cool, sparkling black liquid.

"It's Black Gold Cola." Richard supplied, now sipping apple juice from a carton. "You're too young for coffee."

"Couldn't you have at least given me an energy drink like Rad Buck or Unrelenting?"

"You're too young for those too." Richard chided, his damnable charisma and Jan's sleep deprived brain preventing the young boy from getting mad. With a grumble, he decided the Cola was better than nothing and promptly gulped it all down.

"Goooooh…" Was his exclamation when done. "Sorry for snapping Richard, I'm just really tired…thank you."

"Not a problem." The senior beamed, ruffling his young friend's hair.

"So what have you been losing sleep over Jan?" Liz asked, waving her sandwich in the air, biting down on it as the boy answered.

"With the expansion deadline drawing…" A large yawn punctuated his speech. "closer, I've been working overtime to make sure everything's ready. It's not easy being a genius." He finished with a small grin.

"We don't just keep you around for all the shotacons out there." Liz beamed.

"It's really close now…isn't it?" Vincent sighed in a rhetorical fashion, leaning back in his chair.

"You're sounding all thinky Vinnie." Liz grinned, tapping her friend on the skull with his knuckles.

"I think you mean introspective." Vincent grinned back.

"Whatever." The girl shrugged, swinging her arms back behind her head and leaning back even further than her cohort, so that the front legs of her chair rose off of the ground.

"Aren't you supposed to be a Grade A student?" Richard smirked at his sister, who promptly swung forward on her chair and rapped her elder sibling on the forehead.

"Just because I'm a genius in my own right doesn't mean I have to be the next Christopher Marlowe." She scoffed, settling back into her precarious leaning position.

"Don't you mean 'the next William Shakespeare?" Jan asked, before nursing a bag-bearing eye.

"I like Marlowe better." The blonde winked.

"Well, I'd love to stay and suffer more abuse but I've got to get to the band club meeting." Richard apologised, pushing back his chair and picking up his school bag. "I'll catch you all later."

With a pair of 'Bye Rich' and a 'Take care Richard' following him, the elder student departed the lunch hall, smiling and greeting those who were caught in his charisma as he went, the song the school band was presently practicing played out from his lips as he whistled along his way, the others letting their talk shift to other matters, while Jan battled to remain awake.

---

Sweating in the intense heat of the Floridian summer, Tanya had given up on her effort at jogging, having found herself once again lacking in the physical endurance department. Pausing to catch her breath as she finished mounting the stairs leading up to her apartment, hands upon knees, taking in deep breathes as Charley had shown her when they were a bit younger, in through the nose, out through the mouth. Rising, she took one final deep breath and sighed it back out before pulling out her keys and unlocking the door, slinging her jacket onto the coat rack, she proceeded to charge into her room, throwing her bag onto her bed and slapping the power on button for her PC. Taking a seat, she promptly logged in and began to boot up the Digimon Online Program, slipping the visor onto her face as she grinned almost to the point of excess as she prepared to log onto the game, almost licking her lips when the log in finished.

**Welcome Dainya!**

---

Whumpf!

"Welcome back Dainya!" The phrase was yelled in Stereo as Dainya found herself pinned to the cobble road of root town, Lupmon and Komodomon on top of her, grinning like maniacs before relentlessly licking her face in greeting. Giggling a little at the familiar assault, the girl had to wonder what it would actually feel like to receive the slobbery welcome.

It then occurred to her she may one day find out.

"Okay guys, that's enough." With a groan of disappointment, Komodomon and Lupmon pulled themselves off of Dainya, allowing her to stand, coming face to face with Cait's smiling image. "You've really gotten used to that haven't you?" The lieutenant colonel asked as he motioned for the girl to follow him, Komodomon and Lupmon running on ahead.

"I guess so." Dainya fell into step with her superior officer. "Lupmon's been doing it since I started playing…which has only really been two weeks but still. Though having Komodomon joining in has required a bit of an adjustment. So what are we doing today?"

Since the destruction of the Nightmare Soldier's mansion base, all operations had been forced to run purely in field. Dainya didn't know the details of how Cait, Min, and all the other higher ups had been managing to co-ordinate everything, but from the way Min had exploded the day before about how she couldn't take these conditions much longer, it wasn't a very simple system.

"We've got a stop to make before we run today's checks." Cait explained.

The 'checks' in question had been dotting the 'i's and crossing the 't's as the date of the expansion's release drew nearer and their plan would be implemented. Thinking back, Dainya remembered when Eight had made an effort to explain it to her, Lupmon, Sephy and Bulletmon.

'We're going to open a window. It's my theory that the Wild Lands and the Wild Ones are not simply an anomaly, but that this game is somehow tied to a genuine digital world, and that it is because of this link that Wild Lands and Ones exist. To simplify matters so that everyone present is able to understand, I believe that when the expansion is launched, it will cause a strong link with this digital world to appear, and with the special programs that we've planted, and I made, into all the Wild Lands, we'll be able to cause it to fall into something close to synchronization with the digital world and be able to see into it.'

'Unfortunately,' Komodomon had expanded. 'We can't predict which Wild Land, or Lands, will become the window, so we're going to be stretched pretty thin.

'If this game is linked to a real digital world, wouldn't Pandai know about it?' Dainya had asked, still having a little trouble in fully accepting this new reality.

'I'm a hacking genius, not a master of industrial espionage.' Eight had shrugged.

Not the most confidence inspiring of explanations, but Eight had assured them all that his unrivalled, unparalleled, infallible genius would be able to ensure everything worked out alright.

"Here we are!" Cait proclaimed, stopping outside a small house. "Our new headquarters!"

Looking at the small, rather adorable, thatched roof cottage, with its worn cream paint walls and small round windows, Dainya had to admit, at least to herself, that she wasn't exactly impressed with the new home of the Nightmare Soldiers, it was nowhere near as grand as the mansion had been, and it occurred to her it might be a little silly to have set up right in the middle of Root Town.

'But then again, Shademon did say that the moderators were unlikely to release Gizmon within a crowded area.' Dainya contemplated. 'So maybe being here does make sense.'

Pushing the door in, Cait held it to allow the others to pass, receiving a 'thank you' from Dainya while Lupmon charged in and immediately began to scurry into all the room, sniffing at the furniture and investigating every nook and cranny.

"So, what do you think?" Cait asked.

"It's very um…ah…" Dainya struggled for words as she looked over the fluffy, pink throws on the beige sofas, the knickknacks that adorned the fire place, from china dogs to brass monkeys, not to mention all of the frilly white doilies.

"Babamon like?" Komodomon supplied, while a red faced Dainya nodded, before turning back to Cait.

"Sorry." She murmured.

"Don't worry. We're an underground organization, so sometimes we've got to put up pretence. Here, come and see this."

Taking a moment to get Lupmon's attention, Dainya and her partner followed Cait and his through the living room, the girl taking time to notice that, for what was currently their headquarters, the placed seemed really empty, even if it was rare for large numbers of NS to be in one place at a time, the fact that not even Brigadier Viximon seemed to be present gave the place a slightly eerie feel. She then giggled a little inside, the Brigadier always looked so cute with her little round glasses perched on her nose and that stern look that was just so adorable on her small fuzzy form.

"In here." Cait instructed, once again holding the door open as Dainya thanked him and Lupmon rushed ahead. It was only when she had Komodomon bumping into her and Cait closing the door that she came to a realisation.

"We're in a closet."

"What did I tell you about pretence?" Cait grinned in the dark, before the small space shuddered and began to move, slipping into a long shaft before coming appearing in a massive cavern, filled with rows of shelves filled with books, a long meeting table in the center, with areas segregated off for training, already showing signs of wear, and…was that a hot spring?

"I told you we were an underground organization." The adventurer chuckled as Dainya and Lupmon stood as close to the edge of the platform as they dared, mouths and eyes wide as the looked out at what lay before them.

"Careful Lupi." Komodomon cautioned as his follower practically hung her whole body over the platform's edge.

"My, my, my! Who would have thought such a massive cave was under root town!" Stepping off the platform, Dainya gave a slightly wary smile towards the self proclaimed super genius Eight Ball, who stood surveying the den with arms spread out wide.

He looked a little different now. Gone was his large officers coat and dress uniform, replaced with a tight black tank top with hardened muscles showing through where the new trench coat didn't hide them. The right arm was covered with a metal guard, sheets of glistening steel wrapped around the limb, while upon his left hand was a modified glove, his purple and black digivice attached to the back.

"You look different." Lupmon asked in innocent curiosity, circling the tall player.

"Came with my demotion." Eight shrugged. "I didn't feel right in my flashy officer gear, so I felt this was more appropriate. Besides, don't I look at least 6 limited edition flavors of kick ass?" The hacker grinned, flexing the metal coating on his arm as Lupmon cheered.

"Major Eight Ball." Cait cut in. "Are we clear to run operations?"

"Sir, yes sir!" Eight suddenly snapped to attention, his voice a sarcastic parody of a well-drilled soldier. "I have them chasing ghosts at Tram Lake and Fossil Town, sir!"

Sighing at the hacker's over the top response, (which he supposed he'd only encouraged by casting up the new difference in their ranks), Cait nursed the bridge of his nose as he began to issue orders.

"Just…go and make sure all of your items are ready and double check the Mods' current locations."

"Yes, sir!" Eight hollered, clicking his heels together and marching off in a ridiculously over stated fashion.

"I'm not an expert, but I'd say he's not handling being demoted very well." Dainya stared off in confusion after the hacker, until he vanished behind the shelves.

---

Padding around the new base, Lupmon took in all of the new smells that surrounded her. She liked smells, they way they were really bright and colourful and vib…vibi…shiny! The books had a nice smell, they smelled like Viximon did, and the training area made her think of Agumon. Rounding a corner, the wolf like Digimon came upon a large collection of pillows and cushions, stacks of books cropping up around them while the small, glasses wearing pillow sat curled up in the centre of the mess, eyes scanning back and forth along the lines of an open tome.

"Oh, greetings Private Lupmon." Brigadier Viximon noted the wolf's present, rising on her four stubby legs and giving a small curtsey like bow to her subordinate, who returned the gesture with much more enthusiasm. "What can I do for you?"

"Nothings, nothings." Lupmon replied with a wave of her claw. "I was just taking a looksn' seen' smell."

Smiling at the private's childish antics, Viximon stepped up to her book and, with a degree of effort, was able to flip the page over, longing for the return of hands and digits, she once more sat upon her cushions and continued reading while Lupmon sniffed around the cushions. This peace lasted only a few moments, until a small question re-entered the mind of the small in-training level Digimon.

"Private Lupmon, I have a question for you."

"Is it about tails?" Lupmon asked, dropping down to sit on her backside, her tail wagging softly, brushing the stone floor. "Because I haven't caught mine yet."

Chuckling, Viximon was able to recapture her serious attitude (privately again longing for evolution and a greater ability to control herself, rather than the bundle of nerves her in-training for seemed to be) in order to ask her question.

"As you know, I have no partner, and I was wondering if you could tell me what it's like to have one."

Lupmon took a moment to think about this, tapping at her chin with a claw, crossing her arms and furrowing her brow in a very Pooh like fashion, and even scratching at her ear with her hind claws in order to motivate her brain.

"I'm not really sure." She eventually responded. "I've always been with Dainya, and as long as I can be with her and Aniki, I know I'll be happy."

"I see." Viximon processed this, Cait had once told her that a child's simple and honest answer could be more useful than an adults effort at a complex and detailed explanation, still, it didn't clear up what it was like to have a partner, but it did help put certain things into perspective. "Thank you private."

"You're welcomes!" The wolf unleashed her doggy smile.

"Lupmon!" Dainya's voice seemed to echo through the bookshelves. "We're going now!"

"Okies!" Lupmon called back. "Bye-byes Viximon." And with that the lupine Digimon clambered onto all fours and shot off back through the maze of books, tracking her own scent out as she raced to return to her partner.

"As long as you're happy, hmmm…" Viximon contemplated out loud once, before letting the thought settle in her mind, paying it a small bit of attention as she continued with her book.

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**Raven: **Nothing much going on here. A look back at Vincent and his friends, and a small Bleach joke added in. There aren't many questions to answer either. At some time, Keyo has expressed he would like to do some side-stories of other NS members, and that makes me happy because I can work on new characters, so there might be some other NS stories as well. And as of now, we only have one other Spirit line we're thinking of using, and it's not the Fire spirits, so Agunimon and beyond are unlikely, but we might have a new idea and throw them in (like, for example, an NS side-story. Not that we have him set in one yet, but it's possible).

Other than that, nothing of extreme interest. We might have a little lull in action for a chapter or two, but we know what we're doing for our next magic trick, so just be patient with us and we'll continue to supply you with our quality services.

**Keyo:** So once again I procrastinated and suffered bouts of writers block, I really need to stop being such a lay-about and a wuss. I mean, this project was meant to help me become more organized. Le sigh.

Not much really happens here of importance, other than the explanation of the NS plan. We're basically setting up for a one final mission before hitting the real plot. I swear it's coming, honestly!

Eight gets a change in costume! This was actually more like Eight's original design, but I gave him the officer look because I couldn't remember what Raven told me, and I felt it suited his high up position. Now that's he's been demoted, and is a little cheesed off about it, he's gone for the more rebellious armoured trench coat look. At least, that's the way I remember it all being…in any case, I'm glad to have it.

One final announcement before we disappear for another week, as Raven mentioned I'm planning on writing some side-stories regarding the other, unseen, members of the Nightmare Soldiers, and because I'm so laz…I mean, such a nice guy, I'm opening the board to all character suggestions. Some events in the sides stories may even wind up affecting the main plot, so if you've got a character don't be afraid to put them forward.

Until next time, take care!

**Keyo & Raven.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Keyo: **Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a disclaimer! Digimon is not ours, fan cast to be used only with express permission, I shot the sheriff but I did not shoot his deputy. Notes at the end.

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Chapter 26: Mission!

Return to Witch Mountain and the Wedding Crasher's of Doom!

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Sitting cross-legged within the shade of a large eye ball bearing tree, Tanya kept her eyes on the path they had taken, having been assigned look out duty. Crouched similarly beside her, Lupmon gave a small growl of frustration as she battled with her current boredom, her right claw twitched as she restrained herself from running around the beautiful forest area.

"I'ma booooooored Dainya." The wolf gave a low whine.

"I'm sorry Lupmon, but we've got to keep an eye out for anyone else who tries to come here." The girl explained, Lupmon sighing in defeat and lowering her head again, her ears and eyes still paying attention to her surroundings, but it was in a somewhat reluctant fashion. Letting out a sigh of her own, Dainya swept her eyes over the I/O Forest once more, wondering if Eight was finished yet.

---

"How's it coming?" Cait asked, presently standing guard over the crouched and immobile avatar of the nefarious hacker.

"Not too long now." Eight responded, though his eyes remained dull, the familiar clicking noise that emanated from his still form gave away that he was currently working on his keyboard. "I've got to give credit to whoever set up this barrier, they've actually succeeded in challenging me."

"Hm." Was Cait's only response, as he looked up at the imposing form the forest temple, his cloak ruffling a little as a light breeze blew by. When Dainya had stumbled into Min here, it had prevented either her or Eight from implanting Eight's Window program, and so this was the only Wild Land that hadn't been tapped, and given that they didn't know which area was going to be the best conductor, it was absolutely necessary to have the program planted in all of the Wild Lands.

"Your girlfriend and the brat have given us quite the problem with this one." Eight chuckled.

"She's not my girlfriend." Cait responded in a near deadpan, used to Eight's teasing, though despite the dull eyes, he made sure not to let the hacker look at his tinted face.

"So you don't deny that the brat is a brat." Shademon seemed to hiss as he slinked out of the shadow of the trees. With Eight Ball preoccupied, he couldn't digivolve if trouble started, so he had opted to scout the area. Naturally, Komodomon had called him on how he really just wanted to avoid having to be around any of them.

"Speaking of, what exactly does Sephy have against you?" Komodomon piped up.

"I don't know." Cait shrugged. "He's been pretty hostile since the moment I met him."

True enough, Sephy's attitude towards his commanding officer hadn't exactly improved since they had met. He was always reluctant to follow the commands Cait gave him, and more than willing to argue with him, and he generally seemed more rash than usual when they had been in combat together, and had, rather oddly, taken to having moments of awkward silence around the other members. It was, Cait thought, a very strange kind of animosity; the way Sephy would glare at him as if he was filling a space he didn't belong in, like a single mother's new boyfriend.

"I heard his mother is single, you're not dating her are you?" Eight asked, his eyes coming to life again with a sly look at the lieutenant colonel.

"Geh, I…how do you do that?" Cait exclaimed suddenly, completely caught off guard.

"Do what?" Eight asked, for once not feigning innocence, not that the expression lasted long as his face slipped back into being very sly. "Did I whack the mole on the head?"

"No!" Cait exclaimed. "Gah, where do you get these ideas of yours?" Flustered, he swept his cloak out and took a few pacing steps as Eight rose, taking an unnecessary moment to stretch out.

"Well, in any case, I'm done. We won't have any problems getting in now."

"Good." Cait nodded. "You stay here, I'll go and get Dainya and Lupmon."

"Ah, going for a little strawberry time?" Eight grinned.

"Wha?" Cait looked back, bemused.

"You mustn't read enough girl's manga." Eight shook his head.

"If it means anything like what you told me about lemons…" Cait began to warn, a stern finger rose in wagging position.

"No, no." Eight waved him off. "Don't worry about it, forget about it. Shademon and I will just wait here."

Sighing, Cait turned and began walking off into the woods, Komodomon at his side, very sure he could here Eight snickering behind him, but opting to ignore it; he didn't want to waste too much time here. Even if Eight was able to give them a way through the administrators defenses, he didn't want to push their luck and wind up facing off against a moderator and a Gizmon task force.

---

"And that's where babies come from." Dainya finished flushed red in the face, but keeping her eyes on the forest as she finished answering Lupmon's latest question.

"Wait. I'm still confused, what happens when the man…"

"Did you just give Lupmon the facts of life?" Cait interrupted the young Digimon's question as he stepped out from amongst the trees, and amused grin on his face, which only grew when Dainya gave off a small 'eep', and looked at him long enough to let him see how embarrassed she was before turning away to try and hide.

"Cait!" Lupmon hoped up onto her feet and scurried over to the lieutenant colonel. "What exact-ically happens when the man…"

"C'mon Lupy, I'll tell you all about it later." Komodomon interrupted, slinging an arm around his subordinate's shoulders as he began to lead her towards the temple. "Cause right now Eight finally finished playing with his computer and we can get going."

"Thanks Aniki!" Lupmon beamed, slurping her superior with her tongue before dashing off ahead, leaving Komodomon to wipe the saliva from his face before rushing after telling his subordinate and follower to slow down.

"Your partner has a lot of energy." Cait grinned as Dainya rose and joined him in walking back to the temple site. "And is very curious."

"She got really bored, and so I started telling her things about our world, and before I knew it I was telling her about…well…y'know…" The girl's rant slowed and quieted as she once more became embarrassed.

"Well, I remember Komodomon's reaction when I told him." Cait chuckled. "Couldn't look straight at me for two days after."

"I wanted to claw out Eight's eyes when he forced that disgusting knowledge of human reproduction upon me." Shademon's chilling voice made itself known; the shadow like being approached the pair, slinking from shadow to shadow, his glowing eyes marking his movement. "Which reminds me, he's trying to give his sordid and overly detailed lesson to your partner right now."

"Ah, Lupmon!" Dainya called, picking up her pace and dashing to catch up to the group.

"You're a cruel person Shademon." Cait too began to run.

"And you dress in a manner akin to a male prostitute." Shademon muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing, sir."

---

Progress through the temple was much like it had been when Dainya had traveled the lower levels with Min, as Cait navigated the corridors and deactivated the traps along the way, the digimon's rookie forms proving to be enough to deal with any enemy NPC's they encountered. Komodomon also succeeded in bringing out an embarrassed confession from Dainya about how Lupmon had set off the boulder trap the moment they had entered the temple.

"If we know the access point is in the treasure chamber, why are we walking all through the temple? Wouldn't it be faster to drop down the shaft we took last time?" Dainya asked as the group paused again, Cait and Komodomon hunched over a puzzle as they worked to deactivate a trap Komodomon had defined as 'really, really, pointy death.'

"This temple is an irritating place, certain traps reconfigure hallways." Cait explained. "It makes for an interesting adventure run, as each time you come here you're almost guaranteed a different exploration."

"But we were the last ones through here." Dainya continued her train of thought. "So how could anyone have changed anything?"

"Didn't you set off a lot of traps on the way out?" Eight grinned. "With the way you were crashing around it's a wonder the door was where you saw it last."

Looking downcast, Dainya and even Lupmon turned their heads down in embarrassment as they were reminded of their rather disastrous escape from a dungeon they had practically filled with boulders, and arrows, and pits, and all manner of nasty traps.

"Hey Eight." Komodomon piped up. "Did you ever tell them the reason you disappeared was because of your cat?"

"Wha?" Lupmon cocked her head.

"Now tha…" Eight tried to intervene.

"We heard all about it from Min." Cait took over. "I was quite surprised that the great genius would be thwarted by a widdle pussy-tat and a loose cable."

As Eight silently fumed, proclaiming all geniuses were capable of being victims of circumstance, Cait gave Dainya a quick grin as he caught sight of her chuckling before finishing the trap's puzzle and standing, dusting off his knees from habit as he did so.

"There, that one's done." The adventurer proclaimed. "We can move on now."

"Oh great work Delaware Jim." Eight's tone made it clear revenge would be had for revealing the cat story.

"Y'know, now I have a question." Komodomon began as they started walking again.

Shademon released a spiteful groan.

"Insufferable fool. The will of the digital world is truly sadistic to have deigned that I must work with you." The shade's voice dripped venom, though sounded oddly praising when it thought of its birth world as 'sadistic.'

"We're not being attacked, so we may as well run an FAQ." Eight shrugged, apparently much more accepting of Komodomon than his human partner.

"Well," The red dragon type scratched his scalp with one large claw. "I want to know why we aren't utilizing Eight's King Ghidora sized brain to switch off all the traps and enemies in this place. Not that I don't appreciate a good dungeon romp like all adventurers, but given the importance of this job, you'd think making it a walk in the park, all be it a dark, dusty, and enclosed, park, would have made a bit of sense?"

"It's a matter of stealth actually." Eight explained. "Each time I hack the game, I run the risk of being discovered. Taking out the traps and Digimon is a pretty big job, so, despite the knock to my ego, I'm willing to put the security of my mission first. And seeing as how they leave the monsters and traps on to try and stop hackers like me if we're able to sneak in, I have to place my fate in the hands of Alabama James here."

Suppressing a grumble, Cait picked up on the explanation, apparently more informed than his partner.

"It's why the team formation is organized this way. Eight and Shademon for hacking and initial infiltration, you and me for terrain orientation, and Dainya and Lupmon for combat support."

"Ouch," Eight burst in. "That makes you ensign red-shirt."

"But Dainya's shirt isn't red." Lupmon interjected.

"Yes but…It was a…damnit." Eight huffed, finding himself unable to counter Lupmon's limited knowledge and innocent logic.

"Good work Lupy." Komodomon winked.

"Thanks Aniki!" Lupmon beamed, regardless of the fact that she had no idea as to why she was being praised.

The group continued on through the temple as Eight attempted to glare at Lupmon, but failed upon being confronted with her large, soppy, puppy dog eyes, and opted to glare at Cait instead, which was a lot easier, until he got bored with that and wound up engaging Komodomon in what passed as conversation as the two made jokes about old movies and snickered and chuckled, Lupmon joining in, causing their talk to devolve into Marx Brothers madness, while Shademon to seemingly roll his eyes as he took to lurking at the back of the group. Dainya eventually moved to the front of the group with Cait, though conversation was sparse as the cloaked adventurer had to keep scanning for traps in their way, though he took time to teach Dainya about disabling them, something for which she was very grateful given her past experiences with them. Besides, she had decided that she wanted to be an adventurer like Cait and Komodomon, telling her commanding officer such as they walked.

"It's a fun way to play the game." Cait nodded, eyes still fixed forward. "Getting to explore dungeons and caves and fight strong foes and find rare treasures…of course, for us it's not really a game anymore." The lieutenant colonel's tone became a tad melancholy towards the end. "Much of what Komodomon and I do is just to obtain funds for NS so we can buy Modifier Discs and the like."

"Why, couldn't you just have Eight hack the system?" Dainya asked.

"It comes down to what Eight said before about risk. Each time he does, he risks being noticed and erased. As much as it bugs me to admit it, we can't afford to lose him." Cait confessed. "And even if he managed to create a new account, we'd have lost Shademon. It isn't fair to place his life on the line for things Komodomon and I can get honestly, they risk deletion enough when doing necessary work."

"But isn't Komodomon's life placed on the line each time you enter a dungeon?" Dainya asked, thinking of the close calls she and Lupmon had had, the memories sending a new chill down her spine as they had begun doing ever since she found out her partner was real.

"Don't worry Dainya!" Komodomon suddenly threw himself upon her back, unleashing a toothy grin straight into her face. "We're the number one adventuring team in the whole digital world. Besides, I can't let Shademon be the only one risking his neck, people might start thinking he's noble or something, and that would make me look bad." The dragon grinned, winking back at the shade, who made a rough equivalent of a rude hand gesture towards his effective rival.

---

"Everyone go on green!" Lupmon cheered as the last boulder trundled by and the crossing sign switched from red to green, eliciting a childish cheer from Lupmon who promptly dashed across the pathway.

"Careful Lupy, some boulders might be rolling dangerously." Komodomon cautioned with a slightly cheeky grin, before switching to what appeared to be a sage expression. "You should always walk and keep looking both ways when you do."

"Okay Aniki!" The wolf saluted back, before resuming her crossing with exaggerated slow paces with over emphasized swings of her head as she went, causing all but Shademon to chuckle at the sight.

"Spare me this buffoonery." He grumbled.

"Oh lighten up." Komodomon snapped back with a grin, causing the virus type to narrow his eyes, blotting out the light of his eyes, further enhancing the void like darkness of his body as he gave a look of 'are you serious?'

With everyone pretty much ignoring Shademon's declaration of 'I hate you' the group proceeded on through the catacombs, winding through the passage ways until they were confronted with the great stone door of the treasure chamber.

"Hello again Mr. Door!" Lupmon cheered, waving happily at the effectively inanimate object.

Approaching the door, Cait let himself fall into the cheery digimon's perspective as he approached the great, hinged monolith, anti-trap gear in hand.

"Okay Mr. Door, this won't hurt a bit."

It took a few moments but the click came and the door swung open, revealing the dark layout of the treasure room, the few sparse torches and the multitude of treasure chests, along with the cracked and shattered walls and floor from the battle with Golemmon.

"Why hasn't it repaired itself?" Dainya asked as the group proceeded in.

"This entire chamber is a wild land, so the data doesn't just wipe itself clean like the game areas." Cait explained. "It's why my beautiful garden is still a mess." He took a moment to glare at Eight, who whistled in fake obliviousness.

"Eight, ol' buddy, ol' pal." Komodomon, jumped onto the hacker's back, disrupting his tune. "I know we're here for business and all, but will that stop the rest of us from partaking in the pleasure of these beautiful bountiful boxes of booty?"

"Yes, Mr. Eight Ball. Do tell us, I must admit to being very curious myself." A cold voice sounded from the entranceway, causing the group to turn and Lupmon to snap into a feral growl. A screeching laugh filled the chamber, however, smothering the noise.

"Keeeheeeheeheeeheeheee!"

Stretching out one hand while the other pushed his glasses back up his face, the player killer Skull Abacus smiled in satisfaction, his Gizamon partner at his feet as the wild looking Guitar Villain and demonic Red Rum backed him up, Gizamon by the rocker's side, while the masked warrior had the long snarling form of Fangmon slinked up behind him.

"I'm aware that marching in backed with two champions and an ultimate would be a lot more intimidating, however, low level dungeons being what they are, we really didn't have the ceiling space for Megadramon and Deltamon. However," reaching down, the cold player pulled the chain that ran to his pocket to bring out his digivice, as Guitar Villain pulled his instrumental namesake from his back, revealing the gold and purple digivice embedded in the base. "With the space available it's something that can swiftly be arranged."

"Don't we even get a hello?" Komodomon muttered under his breath.

"I must say your nemesis really fits your Indiana Jones theme Puddy Tat." Eight smirked, as he looked Abacus over. "Though I think most of his foes wound up with the skin being peeled from their skull's." Eight's smile turned predatory.

"I wouldn't be so fast to make threats, Mr. Eight Ball." Abacus continued, Red Rum growing twitchy behind him. "We heard what you were saying about trying to limit the risk on being hacked, so I know that you aren't likely to try anything on that front, and we've proven in the past we can easily overpower your dragon and pup."

"So you're saying if we give you the treasure you'll go?" Dainya asked, rather hopeful.

"Not at all." Abacus responded in a deadpan. "In a low level place like this, the greater spoils are in your inventories. Besides," Once more there was a dramatic push upon his glasses as he paused for a moment. "How could we pass up the chance to defeat the Digital World's number one criminal?"

"You flatter me, really." Eight bowed.

"Enough talk!" Red Rum suddenly cried, throwing his arms in the air. "I want to cut them and slice them and make them scream!" Throwing out his gauntlet covered hand; he pointed it straight at Dainya, his eyes glowering from behind his mask. "I only heard you scream once girlie, and it was such a sweet, sweet sound." The metal fingers of the gauntlet clinked as he flexed them in a creepy imitation of a 'come hither' motion. "I want to rip you and tear you and hear _all_ the noises you can make."

"To be able to pit my mind against one such as yours, Mr. Eight Ball, would truly be a grand battle. Would the stakes that your victory will result in us not reporting your activities to the moderators be sufficient incentive?"

"I suppose it will suffice." Eight shrugged, lifting his glove up to display his own digivice.

"Wait, so I'm getting paired off against the freak again?" Cait's eyes squinted in apparent annoyance as he sized up Guitar Villain and his partner.

"Again with this freak nonsense!" The PK cried before pointing over to his masked companion. "Look! Rum's the one with the blood marked mask, fishnet top, and digivice in his palm."

"Leather trousers!" Cait yelled, pointing to the article in question as many of the others opted to take slightly embarrassed expressions and activated the sweat drop command. "We covered this last time you abomination!"

"That's it! You're going down!" Villain cried, his digivice unleashing a series of beeps as red light exploded over Cait's hand and bled into his, triggering an identical reaction, as Abacus set off his in time with Eight and Dainya.

"Gizamon digivole to…" the amphibians cried.

"Komodomon/Shademon/Lupmon, digivolve to…" The NS members became engulfed in their signature light as Rum let out a low chuckle and Fangmon surged forward.

"Swipe Steal!" The distorted coyote like monster howled using its speedy attack to rush Komodomon with enough of an angle to ram Lupmon as well, sending the pair of rookies flying and disrupting their evolution as Cyclonemon, Deltamon and Eclipsemon all cried out their names and appeared on the battlefield, Fangmon skidding to a halt and turning to begin a second attack.

"Shadow Cross!" The large shade's chilling voice filled the air as he plunged on arm into the shadows, multiple copies of it springing up around the red canine and halting his attack as Deltamon positioned his heads for a Triplex attack as Eclipsemon threw his free arm down, pulling aside the metal head and disrupting the attack.

"Skull Fang!" Deltamon cried in replacement, the bony arm rushing out as its spine like limb extended, the jaws opening as it clamped down on the virus and pulled him into the air, deactivating his shadow cross and freeing Fangmon, who immediately reared up and launched into the air crying 'Swipe Steal', only to be cut off before reaching Eclipsemon.

"Spiral Fang!" The freshly evolved Lykiomon cried, her spinning form slamming into Fangmon and bringing him to the ground, where the pair engaged in a feral wrestling competition, clawing and biting at one another until Lykiomon found herself pinned upon her back as Fangmon savagely ripped away at her, cheered on by its partner's maniacal cackling.

"Lykiomon! Use Raksha's Cry!" Dainya cried into the battle, her words heard through her partner's combat haze as her jaws opened wide and unleashed the torrent of air, blowing the crimson coyote away, allowing her to promptly regain her footing and launch into a fresh Spiral Fang attack.

"Arm Bomber!" Cyclonemon roared, swinging his oversized arm down in an effort to crush Komodomon, who nimble rolled out of the way, before springing up and back in order to evade the second swing.

'Damn…' Komodomon grumbled internally. 'I can't get enough space between me and fugly to digivolve.'

Watching the battles with a calculating eye, Eight's calmness was found slightly unnerving even by Skull Abacus as the hacker calculated odds and tactics, it was the great power of his partnership with the dark Digimon Eclipsemon, the shade was quick and nimble and able, allowing the battle to drag out until Eight found a way to end it all with the least amount of risk. Eclipsemon could defeat Deltamon, but it wouldn't be easy, his Triplex Attack would obliterate the Rave doubles and the shade himself didn't have the physical prowess to take a consistent beating from the blue dino. They could win, but it would be risky, the best option was to get Komodomon to evolve, which meant creating a gap in Cyclonemon's attacks.

"Eclipsemon! Body double Komodomon!" His words were inarticulate, not conveying much of a plan, but it was a trick they had pulled before, nodding his understanding, the shade dropped back to the ground, allowing the pursuing Skull Fang to zip overhead as he clasped his hands together.

"Nightmare Rave!" The icy voice hissed, the shadows around the winged virus stirring as the copies appeared, though rather than be eyeless replicas of the champion, they created blank-eyed copies of the red rookie.

"Eclipsemon may not be the most destructive of Digimon, but his attacks are amazingly versatile." Eight smugly explained to a frustrated abacus as the copies ran to join the battle with Cyclonemon as Eclipsemon dived into the shadows to avoid the Skull Fang attack again.

"Yo! It doesn't matter what little tricks you try an' pull!" Guitar Villain proclaimed. "Cyclonemon will just rip em' all apart, 'sides, not as if I can't remember which is the real one…"

"Stat Modifier, Speed up!" Cait cried, covering the Komodomons in a light blue as they all proceeded to move at a much more rapid pace, darting around the large mutated Digimon at such speeds that Cyclonemon and Guitar Villain lost track of the original, the PK's eyes widening as the light of evolution covered them.

"That doesn't matter!" Guitar Villain cried, irritated at how smug Cait and Eight looked. "Cyclonemon, Hyper Heat attack!"

With a roar, Cyclonemon let his large jaws hang down, his large disjointed teeth glowing as the red hot energy simmered in the back of his throat before crashing out, the great beast turning to sweep the attack over all of the Komodomon, who promptly exploded into dark clouds.

"They were all doubles?" Abacus exclaimed, distracted from his partner's hunt for Eclipsemon, only for he and Guitar Villain to discover both of their pray at once, as a pair of wings spread out, illuminated from behind by a bright red glow as the voice of Komodomon's champion form rang out.

"Drakemon!"

The dark wings sinking into the shadows, the large dragon stood in combat position, giving a dangerous grin to Cyclonemon as Eight spoke up, his voice decidedly smug.

"Nifty little thing about Eclipsemon, not only can he swim through shadows, but you really can't see him at all when he stands by them…of course, this total blotting out trick obscures all light. I warned you that he was very versatile." The hacker grinned, pushing his finger up his nose to mimic Abacus' glasses motion. "This combination is our trump card."

"And this is ours!" Guitar Villain wailed, his digivice beeping wildly.

"Go, Drakemon!" Cait cried, spurring the red dragon into motion as air around Cyclonemon began to shimmer as the egg of light formed around his body.

"Deltamon, stop him!"

"Triplex Force!" The blue beast roared, opening all three jaws and unleashing the destructive energy attack, which succeeded only in tearing up stone as Drakemon proved too fast for the attack, and Deltamon was left to recharge as the red dragon surged towards Cyclonemon, his fist rearing back as dark shapes rose from his shadow, covering his arm.

"Cylconemon digivolve to…"

Drakemon struck, his arm lunging forward and delivering what was certainly his Impact Claw, but while it shouldn't have been enough to move the great mutated beast, the dinosaur type was pulled right back to the wall as the dark mass on Drakemon's fist struck out too, some as fists, others reaching beyond to pulled the destabilized Digimon back against the far wall as Eclipsemon left his ally's shadow and entered that of his foe.

"Didn't we just tell you, this combination was our trump card? We call that 'Shadow Impact!" Cait echoed Eight's words as fists, others reaching beyond to pulled the destabilized Digimon back against the far wall as Eclipsemon left his ally's shadow and entered that of his foe.

Powering backward, Drakemon landed and lashed out with another impact claw, startling Lykiomon as he intruded upon her fight, knocking Fangmon back as he struck out at his head. For a moment she glared at him through her slit eyes, before recognizing the scent of her Aniki and becoming somewhat pacified, her cognitive functions taking over once more. Before she could talk, however, Drakemon indicated Cylonemon, currently beginning to overpower Eclispemon with his brute force and the lupine got the hint, racing towards the dinosaur as Drakemon leapt back to avoid a Skull Fang attack.

Reaching her target, Lykiomon let out a howl and unleashed her 'Spiral Fang' attack, burrowing into her pinned opponent who wailed in agony as his tough hide, so good at defending against blunt force and heat attacks, was torn at by the drill like assault, all the while Eclipsemon rained blows upon him with free limbs, eventually causing an explosion of data which saw him revert back to an unconscious Gizamon. Bending over, the wolf prepared to devour the rookie, her eyes slit again, only to return to their dilated state at the sound of her partner's voice.

"Lykiomon! Take out Fangmon!" The girl called out. Even if Gizamon was just an ordinary programme, having learned what she had, she couldn't just let Lykiomon delete him, if there was even just the slightest chance that there was some spark of life in him.

From there the battle became simplified, Drakemon pitting his might against Deltamon's, while Lykiomon engaged Fangmon in a battle of speed, Eclipsemon tipping the scales in each case towards his own side by interfering, while keeping an eye on the unconscious Gizamon, preventing Guitar Villain from reviving him. A sudden howl pierced the air as Fangmon was once more thrown to the ground, unable to keep up with Lykiomon's use of Spiral Fang, the rapid rotation keeping her ahead of his Coffin Blast and having superior power to his Swipe Steal.

"Lykiomon! Blow him away!" Dainya cried, her partner once more listening to her through the battle haze and ceasing her spin, digging her claws into the ground as she brought herself to a halt before unleashing her Raksha's Cry, meeting with the dark mist of Fangmon's Blast Coffin, stirring up a large cloud of smoke and debris as the two canines howled at one another, only for Lykiomon to shift to Spiral Fang, her spinning from clearing the smoke just in time for Fangmon to catch a glimpse before being knocked to the ground again.

"Enough!" Abacus suddenly barked, his face contorted in absolute frustration. "It's becoming clear this endeavor will not be profitable."

"Giving up are we?" Eight chided.

"Not quite. This battle is still salvageable, however, even if we do triumph, it is unlikely we will be able to recoup ensure a viable profit from the spoils we will obtain opposed to the discs we will be forced to use in order to triumph." Abacus explained, bringing himself back under control. "I must say, I'm disappointed, both in our performance and yours Eight. It is clear we need to stop picking upon such easy prey and improve our skills, while I expected much more of you than to simply resign yourself to support."

"I'm a lover, not a fighter." Eight responded with a nonchalant shrug. "So cliché, but so true!" The word 'true' being followed with a groan from Dainya and Cait (with Eclipsemon and Drakemon restraining themselves) as Eight opted to punctuate the word with a pelvic thrust.

"No!" Rum cried out. "No, nein, non, ie!" The masked player gesticulated each word with a frenzy of motion, his eyes large and maddened behind his mask. "The slaughter is not done, there has not been enough pain!"

"My decision is final." Abacus scolded, glaring through his glasses at his teammate. "You will abide, Mr. Red Rum."

"Never! Fangmon! Destroy! Keeeheeeheeheee!"

Howling like a rabid beast, Fangmon practically foamed black at the mouth as it lunged for Deltamon.

"Swipe Steal!" Was the battle cry as its long claws began to glow, Abacus' expression remaining impassive as he simply snapped his fingers.

"Snake Fang." Deltamon snarled, the skull arm racing out and trapping the red canine within its jaws, Fangmon yelping as the large teeth dug into its soft body. "Triplex Force!" Came the second roar as a light began to back Fangmon and appear in Deltamon's own mouth and the metal arm, before exploding out, the coyote could be heard wailing as it appeared as a shadow within the rainbow light, being thrown across the room. As the attack faded, the burnt out form of the blade eared Prairiemon could be seen twitching upon the ground.

"Why you…" Red Rum began, only to be taken from the ground by another skull fang attack, the large jaws holding him in mid air, digging in enough the his hit points began to slowly fall.

"I know pain holds no fear for you, or the loss of your items. But mark my words, that if you challenge my authority again, I will personally see to you losing so much of your experience that you will never rise above in-training again…Am I clear, Mr. Red Rum." Abacus' demeanor was chillingly calm as he spoke, his glasses looking opaque as the light caught them, and it was plain to all that he had succeeded in instilling some degree of fear into Red Rum's psychotic mind.

"Perfectly…Mr Skull Abacus."

"Mr. Eight Ball…We will hold to the terms of our accord. But the next time we cross paths, I assure you that things will be entirely differ…"

"See, I'm a cliché guy, but to me, that one is crossing a line." Eight interrupted.

"What four eyes means is that our return concert will blow you away." Guitar took over, receiving and approving series of nods from Eight.

"Farewell…Game modifier, Emergency Oscillation Disc!" Abacus swiped the disc through, and with a string of ones and zeroes surrounding the members of his party, they vanished.

"One day I'll work out how they can be so stealthy." Cait sighed, scratching his head.

"Am I the only one who feels like that entire battle was pointless?" Eclispemon hissed as he rejoined the group, glad to drop the charade of being a normal game Digimon as he seemed to melt back into his rookie from, Drakemon and Lykiomon following suit in a flash of light.

"What, you mean like filler? Nah, only some lazy author or impatient script writer would do something like that." Eight joked, before adopting what the others supposed was meant to be a meditation stance. "Now to do what we actually came here for." And with that, his eyes became glazed as he entered a world of code.

"Get ready to sit tight, this bit is really boring." Komodomon warned, taking to leaning against a treasure chest, Lupmon mimicking him.

"Oh no you don't." Cait warned. "We're opening all of these up before we take a break. E-Day may almost be here, but the NS still need funding."

"E-Day?" Dainya whispered to Komodomon as she began to check one of the boxes for traps.

"Expansion Day." The dino translated, doing the same to the next one over. "Cait likes to name things."

After cleaning out all the treasure in the room, Komodomon took to regaling Lupmon with more stories of, as he put it, 'his awesomeness', which the wolf listened to intently, while Dainya enjoyed the small comments Cait offered regarding some of the more embarrassing truths of the escapades his partner described, the pair sitting back against a now empty chest, while Shademon fervently ignored them all.

"Hey Cait." Dainya asked, taking a glance over at the still form of Eight Ball as she began. "I've been wondering something…"

"Yeah?" The adventurer asked in return, cocking and eye-brow and looking over at Eight, trying to see what had caught Dainya's attention, his dislike for the man causing him to squint a little as he did so.

"Why did Eight join the Nightmare Soliders?"

With a sigh, Cait altered his position, coming to lean forward, fingers clasping together as he forced himself to contemplate his least liked ally.

"To be honest, he's never really said; when he joined, he just appeared out of nowhere, saying he knew all about us, and that he wanted in. When we asked him why, all he said was 'I'm curious.'" Sighing, the adventurer leaned back again, folding his arms over his chest. "But I think this is a labor of love for him." A glance as Dainya's bemused expression prompted him to continue. "You've seen how prideful the guy is, working with computers and programs is like getting blood in his veins, and Digimon are the ultimate in computer programs, truly living AI, and a true artist lives not for profit, but for art itself. I think he just can't stand to think that someone is abusing the pinnacle of digital alchemy for profit."

"Wow…that's…that's kinda noble." Dainya mused aloud.

"Don't get me wrong, the guy's a jack-ass and I can barely stand him." Cait returned, his dislike genuine.

"So I have another question for you."

"It's been a theme for the day." Cait smiled.

"I was wondering…why exactly, did you join NS." She asked, tinting a little red, she felt she was stepping into very personal territory in a much more blunt and straightforward fashion than she was used to.

"Two reasons." Cait smiled in return. "I'll tell you, but only if you tell me why you said yes too, okay?"

"Uh…okay." Dainya relented.

"The first is the easy stuff. I was curious, and it was a chance for a _real_ adventure, y'know?" Cait flapped his tattered cloak for emphasis, Dainya nodding in return. "And a very good friend of mine asked me to, said they needed my help…how could I refuse?"

Dainya took a few moments to take this in, not wanting to push for details on this 'friend'. She had learnt that if Cait kept quiet about something, he tended to have a good reason for it, 'Both are very good at what they do, dedicated to the Nightmare Soldiers, and have their own little enigmatic secrets… I guess Eight and Cait are quite similar in a few ways.' She thought to herself with a small grin, thinking of the two who carried the animosity of a cat and a dog.

"So, you're turn." The adventurer grinned.

"Well, I…" Dainya began, going a little red as Cait's attention focused upon her, only to be stopped as Eight suddenly sprang back into life.

"Okay, we're done!" The hacker proclaimed. "Now, I'd like to make a swift run for the limo because that took longer than planned and the moderators are worse than screaming fans at a rock concert if they catch you."

"You're saying that you made a mistake?" Cait asked, seriousness entering his voice as he motioned for the others to follow him as he began to head for one of the passageways.

"I'm saying that there's someone that _I_ would call competent on their programming team who happened to set up a few extra security layers that _may_ have slowed me down enough to be noticed." As they group took to running through the winding corridors, Eight took his turn to ask a question. "Why aren't we using an Emergency Oscillation Disc?"

"Because we can't afford one!" That was the frustrated adventurer's reply. "Someone spent all of my budget on rare items!"

"I need to accessorize!"

'Yup…' Dainya thought. 'Cat and dog.'

---

Winding through the desks of the US Pandai programming office, team newbie Mary approached the secluded office of Cecil Jones, her brow furrowed as she tried to process the best way to approach her boss regarding the latest situation. Standing before the door a few moments, she tried to put together what she wanted to say in a manner that would be least likely to irritate the rather eccentric programmer, before raising her knuckles to knock, only to have the door swing inward as the scruffy devil himself poked his head, out, startling the young woman.

"Is this about the firewall?" The words were fast, carrying a pressure, which prompted Mary to answer quickly.

"Y…yes sir." She almost yelped.

"Is it something I don't already know?"

"I…I don't know…sir." The poor programmer squirmed.

"Bzzzt! Wrong answer! If it was something I didn't know it would have had you wetting yourself in all manner of forms at the thought of knowing something I didn't." Cecil ranted.

"You know it's down then sir?"

"Of course I know it's down." Cecil's face contorted over this new annoyance, his tone changing a little.

"Do you think it was Eight Ball sir?" Mary asked, having learned that, for the programmer, to leave the door open was likely the closest she would receive to a 'please, come in.'

"I don't think, I know." Cecil replied, dropping down into his chair and reclining back, before frowning and leaning forward, adjusting the position of his monitor so that the sunlight wasn't directly on it anymore. "Can you believe Juan tearing down my wall scrolls like that?" He asked, somewhat rhetorically, the manner of his annoyance changing as he pointed back to his now uncovered windows. "It's bad enough that he makes me eat healthy food, now he's going around exposing me to this sunlight dealie, says I'm whiter than the anti-Jackson."

"Anti-Jackson, sir?"

"I know it's a topic about as over-done as a bad roast, but there is no way that flat face is Michael Jackson. Totally an evil clone from a parallel universe." The programmer emphasized his claim with a wiggling of his fingers.

And then a few moments of silence settled in, Cecil's fingers still waggling.

"The fire wall, sir." Mary eventually spoke up.

"Oh yes." Cecil dropped his hands. "As I was saying before you interrupted me with your nonsense about healthy eating and sunlight." Mary's effort at protest was swiftly trodden upon by Cecil's more determined mouth. "In any case, yes it was Eight Ball. I myself worked on this firewall in addition to letting you peons play around with it." The programmer tipped his chair back again and fished a pocky packet from his pocket, inspected the contents, plucked out the last remaining stick and crumpled the carton, dropping it into the bin by his feet.

"Do you think you can predict where he'll strike next again, sir?"

"Again, I don't think, I know. And no, I won't be able to." The pocky stick was stuck in his mouth as he opted to lick away the chocolate. "I knew he'd be at the temple because he was reported there but I couldn't find any anomaly in its coding."

"There was an anomaly?" Mary asked. "When you had us review the sightings list we couldn't find any anomaly in any of them.

"It's small, practically invisible." Cecil explained, leaning forward, snapping off his pocky in order to have a clean end to wave in a Groucho Marx fashion. "When I printed off the temple's coding, the printer charged me a cent more than normal. Meaning a cent's more worth of ink had been used to print it. Whatever Eight's done, it's smaller than print, if you've got nothing else to do, you can try and find out what it is if you want." He waved her off.

"Aren't you going to, sir?" Mary asked, as she turned to leave.

"Nope." Cecil replied with enforced enunciation. "Because I already have my next move planned."

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**Raven: **This is NOT filler. We get to give you a tiny bit of Eight's motivations, so that should be enough to consider this plot.

And Red Rum's back, and crazier than ever! The fact that he scared half the reviewers the last time he was around made me feel really good inside. We're gonna hafta bring him back again.

Keyo made today's title, asking me for a single snip of a movie title. Despite how entirely awkward and fanboyish it sounds, somehow, it works with the chapter. There's not much else to talk about otherwise, we will be moving back to the main plot next week, I just wanted to put in an extra chapter with the return of the PKers, as I always love watching these guys screw up.

**Keyo: **This is SO filler…I'm almost ashamed to having written it if it wasn't for the facts of life scene and because it's pretty damn awesome filler.

For the record, Raven picked 'Witch Mountain' while I picked 'The Wedding Crashers' (which I've never seen), I intended for this to be totally random sounding for the title, but it actually made an amount of sense.

In any case, I don't have much else to say here, beyond a cautionary **WARNING**.

As you are all aware, I'm back at University, and they are now throwing actual essay work at me. This may interfere with my updating, so it may run late, or be missed. I promise this will only be in dire circumstances but I have several essays coming up and time management is not my strong suit.

But, regardless, if all goes well this week (Chuck willing) plot will come and beat you all as only an anime girl can.

Finally, thanks to everyone who has submitting character ideas so far! Some have been really good and the offer is still open, so keep em' coming. Remember, personalities are really important too.

See you all next update!

Keyo & Raven 


	27. Chapter 27

**Keyo:** I apologise for the lack of chapter last week, I did warn you that University Work would get in the way of these chapters, I hope that this is enough to compensate. Notes in the usual places, plot in the chapter. Enjoy!

**Of Blood and Binary.**  
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Chapter 27: Game Over!

Opening Moves!

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"Can't…move…" Charley moaned, slumped over the counter of Joe's convenience store. "No more stretching…no more crunches…"

Smiling to herself, Tanya picked a carton of apple juice from the back shelf and removed the straw, sticking it into the small cardboard container before presenting it to her friend, who meekly reached out and pulled it closer.

"S'ank you…" She moaned before lifting her head up and making an effort to suck on it, before giving up and tipping the carton over, and sucking fast to avoid any spill, groaning in satisfaction. "Juuuuice."

"Tough session?" The bespectacled girl asked, settling her arms upon the counter, poking her glasses up her face as she did.

"Yes." Charley shifted her eyes to glare at her friend. "And you're far too chipper…go back to being sulky and depressed."

"Sorry." Tanya continued to beam. "But that big event I was telling you about? Well, it's happening tonight."

"That's great!" Charley did her best to be enthused, despite how tired she was. "Oooh. The game's tomorrow night!" Her mood made a sort of upward slump, not energetic enough to be called 'perking up.' "After we have got to go out and celebrate both our events. No gaming, 'kay?" The cheerleader offered a pinkie.

"'kay!" Tanya mimicked her friend's voice partner, linking her pinkie and giving her friend's a small tug. "Pinkie promise." They both chanted, with differing levels of energy.

"I swear, you have the oddest, most adorable customs." Charley gave a tired grin before sucking on more juice.

---

The hours eventually passed and with a dark sky blanketed the landscape; Tanya made her way up the stairs, stopping as ever to catch her breath upon reaching the top, cursing her unhealthy body as ever, and wondering how she could have lived in this apartment all her life and still be unable to mount the stairs with ease. Opening the door, Dainya slipped off her coat and shoes and proceeded into the kitchen, where a package lay at her spot upon the table.

"Heya sweetie, a package came for you." Mrs Mills beamed as she proceeded to engulf her daughter in a hug, her comment a little redundant, but the attention was more than appreciated. "How was work?"

"Worky." The girl responded as she was released from her mother's embrace. "But Charley was half-passed out on the counter for a chunk of the night so it wasn't so bad."

"I really hope this isn't a prelude to her hanging out getting drunk in bars."

"Mom!" Tanya pouted in classic irritation. "You know Charley's would never do something like that."

"I know, I know." Mrs Reeve kissed her daughter upon the head. "You girls are just getting to that age when we mothers start worrying about you getting into all sorts of deviant activity, hanging out with unsavoury boys and gangs and getting into all kinds of trouble."

"Mom…" Tanya drawled, a slight blush entering her cheeks, born for guilt, but mistaken for embarrassment.

"I know, I know. You're too much of a shut in and Charley's too…Charley to get into things like that. But I still worry about you, you hear all sorts of horrible stories of young girls getting led astray by forty-year-old perverts."

"Mom!" Tanya gave the teenage protest again, silently wondering why everyone kept saying that.

"Sorry, sorry." Mrs Mills withdrew, allowing her daughter to move to the table.

"So what's in the package?"

"It's something for my game." Tanya grinned, a little embarrassed.

"You're not spending too much are you?" Mrs Mills interrogated.

"It's not Mom." Tanya tried to pacify, only to receive a scrutinizing glance from her mother. Mrs Mills knew that Tanya wasn't one for lying, especially not to her, but she also knew when her daughter was trying to hide something. Of course, she relented sighing, part of getting a job was to learn to be responsible with money,

"Okay, okay." She relented, her daughter turning to make a dash to her room. "But no playing to 3am tonight and make sure you eat something before going to bed, okay?"

"Okay Mom!"

Closing the door to her room, Tanya moved to her desk, firing up her PC in routine fashion she flicked on her desk light as she began to open up her parcel, tearing off the protective mail covering, her grin widening as she saw the brightly coloured cover. 'Digimon Online – A Brave New World – Expansion [Special Edition' was written across the top in the classical Digimon title print, with images of wild landscapes and Digimon covering the rest of the box, a great dark shadow looming in the sky, its red eyes leering over all of the Digimon.

'So…cool.' Tanya almost drooled as she admired the rather typical image.

Opening it up, she quickly inserted the expansion disc into the drive and set computer to installing the programme while she set about admiring the pretty pictures in the instruction guide, a moment of reflection causing her to actual read instructions so as to avoid any repetitions of when she had first started. Once the installation was complete, she slipped the helmet on and fired up the game, finding an improved title screen blaring out the words 'Welcome Dainya' as her world shifted.

---

With a loud 'Whumpf' Dainya was propelled into the familiar horizontal position as she was roughly tackled and found herself under the assault of a pair of tongues in a slobbery welcome. Oddly though, one of the tongues was not the great spittle machine that belonged to Komodomon, rather a smaller and more sandpapery like muscle that belonged to a furred, quadruped Digimon.

"Okay Leormon, Lupmon, that's enough." A soft female voice instructed in a motherly tone, seizing the attention of the two Digimon, causing them to relieve Dainya of her effective bondage as she got up.

"That was fun Tatum-um." The quadruped cheered, bounding up, and prancing around the player who was the source of the voice. Looking at the Digimon, Dainya was reminded of the little cub from that film about lion's and their king, it even had a small tuft of a mane upon the top of its head, only this was bright red, the chain that linked the emerald amulet to its thick brass collar jangled as the player lifted him up into her arms.

"I told-ja so!" Lupmon cheered from beside Dainya, before turning and tugging on the girl's trouser leg. "Dainya! Dainya! That's my new friend, Leormon and his partner, Tatum-um!"

"Tatum." The player smiled, not sounding as if she were correcting the Digimon. "Lieutenant Colonel Tatum." The girl introduced herself properly, if she could be called a girl, her appearance seemed caught in-between the cherubic beauty of youth, and the calm grace of womanhood, she was doubtlessly beautiful though, with long dark blond hair trailing down past her waist, and dark blue eyes. Her outfit was likely a factor too, as, unlike Dainya's ensemble, Tatum wore a sunset yellow dress, consisting of a petticoat and a long skirt, white stockings ran up her legs while proper black shoes adorned her feet, giving her the look of a proper lady; supporting Leormon with one arm while raising the other to shake hands with Dainya. "Lieutenant Colonel Cait asked me to come and get you."

"And I'm Leormon!" The cub like Digimon called out. "I'm here to protect Tatum-um!" There was an effort at growling or roaring, which Dainya supposed was meant to sound fierce, but instead sounded adorable, made all the cuter by the way Leormon's face scrunched up, forcing Dainya to restrain from going 'Awww.'

Scratching her partner's ear, Tatum let him drop to the ground as he promptly took the opportunity to tackle Lupmon, the two engaging in a playful wrestling match.

'A real cat and dog.' Dainya thought as she watched them. 'And they get along so much better than Cait and Eight.'

"I'm very pleased to meet you Ma'am." Dainya entered into conversation. "I haven't met many of the NS officers."

"Yes, we've all been very busy recently." Tatum nodded, a little melancholy entering her voice, the same sort, Dainya noted, that plagued Cait, Komodomon, Stoker, and several of the others when they thought about the amount of pressure they were under, and she was starting to think it wasn't just stress.

"In any case." Tatum seized her attention, her tone shifting to something more official. "We better get going. Operations are due to begin soon and the General plans to talk to us all before we start." Nodding her consent, Dainya began to follow Tatum as the two walked towards the house that served as the front to the Nightmare Soldier's headquarters, Lupmon and Leormon in tow.

---

As the elevator drew down over the cave, Dainya found herself once more in awe. The network of bookshelves had been moved to one side, making the majority of available space look like a parade ground, currently filled with a rabble of players, they may have only been some 30 or so strong, but it was still an impressive sight, and at the head of the chamber was a large podium. Looking carefully, Dainya noticed that the number of Digimon was greater than the number of players.

"I think you're the last to arrive." Tatum stepped up beside the private.

"Everyone down there is a member of NS?" Dainya asked, pointing down.

"Yup. We found quite a few NPC Digimon who were Wild Ones and recruited them too." The lieutenant colonel explained. "I gotta admit, this is the first time I've seen everyone together like this." She admitted.

"Dainya!" A familiar voice broke out as the lift reached the bottom, as Sephy burst out from the crowd, closely followed by Bulletmon. "What took you so long, huh?"

"Some of us have to work to pay for our gaming y'know?" The store clerk and sometimes baby-sitter scolded.

"C'mon you lot." Tatum chided gently. "Get into formation, we'll be starting soon."

"Formation, Sir?" Bulletmon asked in full formal fashion.

"It just means get into your division." The lieutenant colonel explained. "We'll be standing in rows segregated according to who your superior officers are. Cait will be up on the podium so just make sure you're kinda in line with him okay? I've got to get up there too, so take care. C'mon Leormon."

"Yes Tatum-um!" The feline cheered, leaving from his playing with the lupine. "Bye-bye Lupmon!"

"Bye-bye Leormon!" Lupmon waved, ambling along to stand by Dainya.

"Well, I guess we better go and get into place." The player surmised, turning and looking to the podium, finding her vision obscured by set of heads. "If we can work out where…"

"Lost?" The banjo carrying officer Kazoo grinned, waving, Sythe and the two Agumon by his side.

"Don't worry Dainya, we're in Cait's unit too, so just stick by us." Sythe grinned, jabbing a thumb at her chest.

"Thanks Sythe." Dainya smiled, before finding herself pulled into a tight headlock.

"I am soooo excited! Psyched even!" Sythe cheered, punching her free hand in the air. "We're going were no man has gone before! Looking into a brand new world!"

"Don't be so sure we're not just making a cover album." Kazoo's partner chided. While he was an Agumon like Sythe's he was easily distinguishable by his lack of arm wraps and the large sunglasses upon his nose. "If that Dog Eight's theory is right, those dudes up in the ivory tower have played this tune before, only they weren't doing it for the art, yo'."

There was applause of bemused blinks.

"What he means is, that Eight thinks Pandai know about this and have directly accessed the digital world before." Sythe's Agumon translated with a heavy sigh.

"Part of why we've got to be so secretive." Kazoo nodded. "In any case, we're going to start, so I better go and stand with the other lieutenants. Take care grunts!" Kazoo waved as he began to walk through the crowd.

"Stupid lack of rank." Sythe grumbled. "C'mon guys, lets get this over with."

---

All fell silent and stood at attention in their rows as General Stoker rose upon the podium. Behind him, Cait, Tatum, and two others stood. One male player in full military regalia, a dark blue uniform, complete with golden tassels upon the shoulders and stripes upon his shoulder to mark his rank as Lieutenant Colonel, the last was a Digimon, the champion level Apemon, marked out with h platinum blond fur and tribal markings, his large hands rested atop his bone staff, looking as official and proper as the player next to him. Before them, standing so as not to obscure the view of the lieutenant colonels, stood Brigadier General Myotismon, Brigadier Viximon upon one shoulder, looking remarkably reserved and proper for such a cute bundle of fur. Standing at the forefront, Stoker took a moment to smooth his suit out, unnecessary, but it made for a good effect, as he then cast his eyes over all those before him, taking a moment to recount each of their names as best he could, before smiling to himself and beginning his speech.

"Everyone…I want to thank you for taking the time to be here. In an hour, the expansion will become active and all of our work will finally be rewarded, as we will obtain our first glimpse into the digital world. I'm not the best with words, but I want to take this time to thank you all, and remember all those who couldn't…who are no longer with us."

The unsettled feeling that Dainya had noticed a few times before seemed to sweep through all of those assembled, some matters that she had not been here for, but remembering how she had felt when they thought Taomon had died was enough of an indication for her to work out some of what was being spoken about.

"But I don't want this to be a time of mourning." Stoker continued, his voice resolute. "We have come so far from the bewildered handful we started as. We have discovered so much and developed such strong bonds, with all we have gone through, I'm proud to know you all." With his stance becoming more rigid, Stoker began to shift into professional mode, sounding very much like a true military commander. "Thanks to all of your work, we now posses a full list of the locations of the current Wild Lands in the game, the lieutenant colonels will divide you all into groups and allocate you your post. According to Major Eight Ball, it is likely only one of these areas will become our window, so if you should see a reaction immediately alert all other members. This operation is codenamed, 'Looking Glass'. Good luck to you all." A smile cracked upon his old face. "And you will have full permission to celebrate once this day is done."

A round of applause broke out, which Stoker graciously accepted, before turning and walking back towards the rest of the commanding officers as they prepared to descend and organize their troops.

"You did well, sir." Cait spoke quietly as the General drew up beside him.

"Thank you, Cait. Though I'm sure you could have done better."

"I'm as much a public speaker as you are sir." Cait smiled. "And you've earned a little shot in the spotlight like that, after all you've done for us."

"We've come so far haven't we Cait?" Stoker sighed, a mix of happiness and sadness that only memories could generate.

"Yeah. Though we can't get slack now, we still don't know what we'll see in that window." The adventurer's eyes hardened.

"You always worry so much Cait…I suppose it's what makes you a good officer, and friend." Placing a hand upon his cloaked shoulder, Stoker smiled at his subordinate. "Come, we have work to do."

---

Idle sounding banjo music filled the air as Kazoo sat strumming away, his partner accompanying on a harmonica as the two leaned back against the rock wall of the mountain that shielded the damaged garden. Laughing madly, Lupmon, Sephy, and Komodomon pursued one another across the space, while Cait watched smiling, trying not to focus on the damage his little sanctuary had taken, while Sythe tried not to focus on the twangy banjo music that was slowly driving her up the wall. Eight and Shademon ignored everyone as the seemed to be engrossed in sights only they could see, while, looking out over the horizon, Stoker, Viximon upon his shoulder, and Myotismon enjoyed the view. Dainya, meanwhile, was content to wonder exactly how so many of them had wound up in this one place.

"There is a good reason for it." Cait explained when she asked him. "With the exception of Eight, you're looking at the remaining founding members of the Nightmare Soldiers. It was when I just started playing the game that the party I was travelling with came upon a Kyuubimon who not only was in the wrong area, but who tried reasoning with us. To be fair, I thought it was odd when the first thing Komodomon said to me was 'Ah, you must be my new follower.' But it was after meeting Kyuubimon, our current Brigadier Viximon, that we became the first incarnation of the Nightmare Soldiers."

"You said…remaining founding members?" Dainya pushed, her tone cautious as she knew she was touching on a somewhat sensitive matter.

"Two of the Colonels were in our party. But…" The adventurer's face screwed up for a moment. "Some time ago, one of the colonels didn't like the way things were being done…We were able to put down his effort at a coup de tat but it cost us the Digimon and the partners of our colonels…Their players just couldn't come back…It's one thing to lose troops to work and the Mods and their Gizmon, but to have an officer turn like that…"

"Why did the guy try and pull a coup?" Dainya asked, her own expression forlorn.

"In short, he thought we were too peaceful. When we managed to recruit Eight Ball, he wanted us to have him break into Pandai's servers and crash the place as a warning…make us some kind of digital terrorists…When Stoker refused, his response matched his aggressive attitude…it.." Cati's face scrunched up and Dainya tentatively placed a hand upon his shoulder. She understood now why the his perception of betraying her had stung the adventurer so much, as well as why the absence of the colonels was such a taboo topic.

"ETA 5 minutes guys." Eight called out, snapping from his trance and startling everyone into attention.

"Looks like this is it." Stoker beamed, his smile making his old face look so much younger, possessed as it was with a childish enthusiasm and energy. "Stations everyone! We're getting ready to look into Wonder Land."

Scrambling, Digimon and players stood side by side in their partnerships, ringing the garden, as they stood ready for whatever would happen. A nervous silence filled the air as the NS members became acutely aware of every little twitch the others made as they waited. Glancing to her side, Dainya noticed that Cait and Komodomon had the same charged look they had when she had been adventuring with them, only on a much grander scale as their eyes darted around the area, grins upon their faces, an air of caution caging their excitement as they stood ready for whatever was about to come.

Feeling her heart pounding within her ribcage, Dainya reached down and scratched Lupmon's ears, her lupine partner appreciating the gesture and tilting her head to nuzzle Dainya's palm, completely oblivious to the tension that filled everyone else. For the first time, Dainya wondered exactly what Lupmon's fur and tongue felt like, and wondered if she would ever know.

---

"Mr Jones, sir?"

"I'm a very, very, very busy person right now Ms Weathers, so unless you're here to inform me that all my hard work is being rewarded with my long sought after transfer, 500kg of the finest cut Pocky and a fully furnished apartment I suggest you leave right now. Not even sexual favours are enough to distract me." An irate Cecil chided from behind his desk, the air filling with the sound of his fingers rattling upon the keys.

"SIR!" Mary Weathers hollered, turning red.

"What?"

"There are anomalies occurring in the expansion software, it's not working like it…"

"Don't worry." Cecil's tone calmed a little, possibly because he was about to talk about his own brilliance. "I've taken it all into account. It's all part of Eight's plan, and thus I've factored it in as a part of my plan."

"But sir, it's spreading like a virus through our systems, it's either corrupting or destroying our files, and we can't perform a shut down!" Mary began to sound a little hysterical.

"What?" Cecil practically leaped out of his chair, the most animated anyone in the office had ever seen them.

"We tried disconnecting but it didn't seem to matter. We unplugged the computers from the mains and the Internet, but the connection is still on and they're still running."

"This is…this is…" Cecil muttered to himself, his usual composure vanishing as he began to access the network from his terminal, seeing the damage for himself in code form as he scanned files and programmes. "What…is this…It's all gone far beyond any calculation…MARY!" he suddenly barked, swinging his head up. "Order all programmers to do their best to isolate these programmes! We can't let them spread through the system."

"But what is it sir?" Mary asked, her own worry increasing as she found herself confronted with a tone of voice that seemed completely alien upon her boss.

"A raw programme that surpasses anything even I could create…We have to try and trap it here and now before it reaches the game." Cecil responded, his fingers having returned to the keyboard as he typed furiously.

"But sir, it's already latched on!"

All sound stopped around Cecil as he stopped typing for a moment, his features twitching as his amazing mind tried to find a way to handle the situation.

"Ms Weathers…go and follow through as I asked you. Prioritise shielding the game network. I'll do what I can in here. GO!" In a flash, Mary ran from the room, slamming the door behind her, causing a few loose piles of papers and poorly hung pictures to fall to the floor, Cecil flying back into his work.

'Damn…it's all gone far beyond calculations.' Cecil grimaced. 'And there's no time to do anything…'

---

In a simultaneous moment, a cold shiver ran up the spines of all the wild Digimon as the last seconds ticked away and the expansion came into effect. It all started normally, with the loading icon appearing on every player's screen, filling up swiftly as the new data flooded in. Then everything seemed to…break. The graphics of the world, save for the wild lands, became disjointed. NPC Digimon collapsed and reformed, their data mixing as the whole world began to fall into sheer chaos, as the programming code saw fit to rearrange itself in any random fashion it desired.

"Major Eight Ball! What's happening?" Stoker had to yell over the screeching barrage of purely random notes that roared through the speakers of every player, regardless of whether or note the sound was on or off.

"I'm still working that out!" Eight shouted back. "It seems that rather than get a stream of data from the digital world, we're getting a flood! And it's responding violently! Rather than integrate, it's trying to devour this world!"

"What do we do about it!?" Komodomon broke into the discussion.

"I don't know I…" Eight's rambling was cut off as the world suddenly began to flicker.

"WARNING!: All players immediately log out. REPEAT. All players immediately log out. WARNING!:…" The message began to broadcast on audio, fuzzing up at times, and appearing in the sky, on signs, on walls, everywhere as a full alert ran through the games' systems.

With a loud crashing noise, the sky and earth all around seemed to be torn open as lines of code began to pore out of the fresh gashes like arterial spray from a lethal wound. What made the sight more astounding was that Digimon were clawing and swooping and climbing from the holes.

"This is madness…" Myotismon gazed on.

Eight was so shocked he didn't mention anything about a certain Greek state.

With a wailing sound of shredding earth and stone, the cracks in the ground and sky raced towards them, the mountain splitting into two as the data around the garden began to corrode and change, becoming polygons and code, and all manner of things. The sound of approaching Digimon could be heard, before a bright flare silenced them, the golden light racing up and out of the crevice causing the NS members to leap back as the tear was forcibly widened. As the explosion of light faded, a thrumming noise, like a cluster of helicopters, was heard coming from the gap, leading to a colossal purple Digimon surging up into the sky, the sound of its mad laughter the only thing that could be heard over the noise of its many insect like wings. Cold silver eyes situated upon a long, pointed, armoured head scanned the corrupted game world as the Digimon hovered, the long plate armoured tail swished with stored energy as the massive silver claws if had flexed, in anticipation.

**TyrantKabuterimon**

**Type: Virus**

**Level: Mega**

**Attacks: **Shine of Bee, Bee Cyclone.

Lowering his digivice, Stoker grimaced as he tried to think of the most appropriate action to take. Logging out was sensible, but it would mean leaving the Digimon defenceless. Looking to Viximon upon his shoulder, her small form quivering in instinctive fear from the extreme pressure TyrantKabuterimon was exerting, her face forced into a strong battle grimace, Stoker knew he couldn't do it. This was no different to when the moderators had attacked the Mansion.

"Everyone," he turned to face his troops, only to find their digivices already in hand, light flowing into them as the Digimon became surrounded in light, ready for battle. "Lets go."

"Giiiijhgiiijhigiijhi." TyrantKabuterimon laughed. "All for me…all for me." Looking down, his eyes twisted up into a semblance of a grin, his great scissor jaws incapable of smiling. "Luuuunch." Twisting, he flew back down towards the shattered mountain as the digivolution of the NS members finished, and all stood ready to defend themselves.

"BEE CYCLONE!"

---

With in the Jungle Temple, battle raged. "Thunder of Kings!" Liomon roared, lightning surging through his mane, causing the dark brown hairs to spike before he roared and discharged the attack, the blast causing thunder to ring out through the temple as it tore through the feral Tyranomon, obliterating the Digimon as the lion like Digimon leapt to the side to avoid an attack from a Minotaurmon, his twin tails swishing and the great bangle earrings jangling before calling upon the electric attack again and letting it roar through the air, severing the Ultimate's hammer arm from its body.

"This is going all wrong." Tatum kept herself hidden in one of the archways as she watched her partner and colleagues battle the incoming tides of vicious wild Digimon. "Not to sound like Yoshino, but…This is the worst."

---

In a sewer dungeon deep under Factorial Town, the earthquake like gauges allowed Digimon to pour in from above as the NS squads there fought on too.

Data sprayed into the air as if from arterial spray as the armoured form of Sealsdramon slit the throat of the Unimon, pushing off, he kicked it to the ground, whipping his armoured tail around to trip a zebra like Shimaunimon, continuing his movement to place a deadly stab straight into its eye visor, before leaping back and scanning the battlefield. All out combat wasn't his specialty, but it didn't phase the stoic assassin who simply flicked his knife as if to clean blood from it and stood ready to react to an attack or order.

"Everyone!" The military dressed player called out. "Our defensive position is compromised, begin proceeding to point D. "Ninjamon, Starmon! Provide covering fire to defend our rear, Sealsdramon, Peckmon, clear a path through!"

"Roger!"

---

Batting another assailant to the ground, Apemon took the chance to beat it a few times before it withdrew. Having brought his division into a tight circle, the Lieutenant Colonel was forced to stay on the defensive, making primal declarations of superior power through action. Letting out a feral snarl, he seemed to dare the wild Digimon to attack, though truthfully hoping they didn't come close. There wasn't a space for a strategy, and some of his troops weren't that fast. Apemon was the noble type and he had no intention of sacrificing troops to let others escape. All for one, and one for all.

With a wild cry he lunged as a Monochromon tried to enter the circle's perimeter, Bone Club ranged to deliver a skull crushing blow.

---

Within the remains of the Mansion, Min and her team had found themselves surrounded, and were exploiting the broken walls and craters of the battle with the moderators as they made for the secret passage, Lobomon darting from cover to cover, providing support fire and trying to clear the way with his Lobo Kendo attacks, cleaving through those who blocked the way, while Witchmon unleashed bouts of Baru Luna Gale, causing the acidic rain to block off the advance of enemy groups while lancing those who got too close with her Aquari Pressure.

"Graaaah! I don't know how, but I do know that this is all Eight's fault!" The spell casting Digimon ranted.

"For once I agree!" Min cried in response.

---

Insect drones about the size of a man's torso swarmed through the air, equipped with bladed legs and large stingers, soaking up the efforts to attack TyrantKabuterimon as the members of NS had to dodge a second assault swarm that was doing it's best to tear them apart. Pulling Desperamon into the air, Drakemon turned used the force to a make a sharp mid-air turn and avoid another rushing swam, Desperamon flipping in mid air and unleashing shots from his Star Revolver, the bullets bouncing harmlessly off of TyrantKabuterimon's shell. Supported by ranged assaults from Lykiomon and Geogreymon, MetalGreymon unleashed his Giga Destroyer, barrages of missles tearing apart a shield swarm as Myotismon took the chance to break through, a stream of red energy pouring from one hand as he moved to strike with Crimson Lightening, TyrantKabuterimon reaching out with surprising speed crush in the incoming ultimate, silver eyes widening as dark arms sprung from the shadow cast upon Myotismon's as Eclipsemon used TyrantKabutermion's claws to swing his superior officer around the attack, hurling them into attack range as the Brigadier-General plunged his attack into the giant beetle's armoured shell, the energy bouncing off harmlessly. Myotismon's eyes widened before he was clubbed with the large, bladed forearm of the mega, sending him spiralling into the mountainside.

"Ghiiijiiighijiighijii!" The virus laughed. "My armour is chrome digizoid…you'll never harm me…prey is prey…lay down…be eaten…become part of my might…Shine of Bee!"

The orb in the centre of his body shone as his armour proceeded to light up before an explosion of destructive light erupted from his body, immediately erasing his own drones. Seizing the falling form of Desperamon, Drakemon flew higher in a bid to outrace the attack that had destroyed the Digimon in the gorge, while the Digimon on the ground scattered in a like-wise fashion, taking their partners with them. The last thing they needed was for their health to hit zero and risk losing their digivolved forms. Despite avoiding the full furry of the attack, the shockwave the it pushed out was enough to buffet them and send them sprawling as the virus shone like a small sun, causing the Champion Digimon to crash and tumble as they were forced back into their rookie forms.

"We…c-can't even touch him." Komodomon scowled, struggling to move as he tried to lift Bulletmon from his back.

"Not that it matters when we do…" Dainya's face was pale as she pulled Lupmon close to her body.

"Eight! Status report!" Cait barked.

"The cream-puff has hit the fan!" The hacker yelled, his focus switching between in-game and his operations in the real world. "Once I actually know why someone was throwing pastries at a fan I'll let you kn-oh…oh swear words…oh my…"

"Eight, you're sounding inarticulate. You're beginning to scare me." Cait grimaced as he hauled Komodomon onto his feet, a loud crashing noise accompanying MetalGreymon's brutal decent to the ground as he returned to being Agumon.

"I'm getting a tidal wave of code that makes all kinds of nonsense and…"

A piercing noise worse than dial up modem filled the air causing everyone, player and Digimon alike to cry out in agony as it felt like the noise was stabbing into their brains, Dainya could feel her real body fall from the chair and hit the floor as her avatar dropped to the ground. And then, for a brief second, the world flashed to static.

---

Hearing a scream, Mrs Mills jumped. She would have been tempted to brush it off as her daughter over-reacting to her game again, but the crashing noise that followed it was enough to make her curious. And the scream itself…her husband had talked about screams before, the different sounds they have…this one wasn't the noise she let off when she scared herself silly watching horror movies…it sounded more like the one of pain. And any mother who had seen their children fall and cut themselves bad knew what these screams sounded like. Rushing to her room, she pulled the door open.

"Tanny, you okay?" Receiving no response, she looked in and her voice became more panicked. "TANYA!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Raven:**It may have been the fact that I was half-naked in the middle of the coming Winter when I proofread it, but this chapter gave me bumps and chills. I honestly believe this to be the best chapter we've done, mostly because it has so much going on at once, it feels similar to the storm that the characters themselves are experiencing.

Our first idea in place of TyrantKabuterimon was Diaboromon, but when I saw TyrantKabuterimon, Keyo and I agreed we needed him in the story somewhere, so we threw Diaboromon into our "Maybe" pile and used him instead. I think he works a lot better than Diaboromon in this case, being a massive opponent of intimidation with moves that are easier to see and try to dodge, as opposed to a smaller and faster opponent who would pretty much kill everybody before they could see it coming.

Congratulations to hillyhp2590 for making the first character we decided to stea…borrow for our story. I really like Tatum and Leormon (especially Leormon's friendship with Lupmon) and I hope Keyo decides to keep her around for a few more battles. Our other two Lt. Colonels were thought up almost on the spot (either that or I can't find the other two characters people made that we based them off of), so they probably won't see as much screen time. You never know though, we hardly ever make throwaway characters.

**Keyo:**This was a good chapter.

First off, thanks to hillyhp2590 for supplying the character idea of Tatum. If I ever start the NS side stories, she'll have a prominent role there, and probably a decent one here. The description she sent was very vague, giving a basic physical description and a brief on her personality, stating her as being 'similar to Tanya, but more confident, and quite motherly.' It was that Motherly bit that really appealed to me and thus the relationship I gave her with her partner, Leormon.

TyrantKabuterimon is pretty damn awesome for a villain, and I like the laugh I gave him. Eiichiro Oda, manga ka of popular manga 'One Piece', has a habit of giving his characters, especially villains, a distinctive laugh. I really like Red Rum's 'Keeekeekeekee' so I wanted to give TyrantKabuterimon something cool as well. Tyrant seems to be a bit of a basic 'Raaar, I'm evil' villain, but the Digimon world is full of savage beings who seek greater power. He makes for a good killing machine.

And finally, I'll end on a quote from CrazyEight regarding this chapter.

'You know you're in serious trouble when Eight Ball doesn't know what's going on.'


	28. Chapter 28

**Keyo:** Notes at the end, Digimon belong to Bandai, fan cast to us.

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Richard Henry Evans was not too unusual a teenager. True, he went to a prestigious private high school, and spent much of his free time there hanging out with his sister and her friends, but that wasn't too out of the ordinary, his own friends were in the public school after all. He was well liked, and played the banjo, an odd instrument of choice, but he liked the happy sound all of its notes had. He liked to play games too, wasn't too big on the computer types, but he did enjoy playing the Digimon World Online game, especially when he found he could play the banjo there too, and he and his Agumon partner set off forging their way as the game's finest musical buskers, combining banjo and harmonica on their trails.

Of course, there were some odd elements to his life. First there was the fact that he discovered that his partner was an actual, real, sentient Digimon, and that there were others like him. Becoming a part of the organisation known as 'Nightmare Soldiers', seeking the truth behind these sentient beings. Of course, it all paled in comparison to what was happening right now. With the wind whipping around his face, he was acutely aware of how he could feel the rough cotton of his hakama, the weight of his conical hat and banjo, which paled in comparison to the rough feel of Agumon's scales and the weight of his body as he froze in the middle of helping him to his feet, faltering slightly from the shock of the realisation.

"Yo…partner…what was that?" Agumon groaned as he recovered from being knocked to the ground and the ear-splitting noise from a moment ago.

"I…I dunno…" Richard looked around wildly, regaining enough of his senses to fully lift Agumon to his feet as he took in the ruined landscape.

"Hey…you lost your face fuzz…" Agumon commented, a little delirious as he looked up at his partner's face.

Clamping a hand to his chin, Richard found that his face was, indeed, his clean-shaven own, not the lightly, ruggedly fuzzed face of his avatar Kazoo.

He really, really, really was here, in the game.

Looking up, he watched as TyrantKabuterimon unleashed his horrendous 'Ghiiijiighiijiighijiii' laugh.

He really, really, really was here, in the game…

Crap.

"RUN!"

**Of Blood and Binary.**

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Chapter 28: Game Over pt 2

War Games.

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Who shouted, he didn't know. He just followed the command and pulled Agumon along, running with the others into the passageway, TyrantKabuterimon was a giant sized Mega, it gave him full access to his power to unleash in colossal bursts, but it limited his mobility, he couldn't follow in here. It didn't change the terror Richard felt, the mind numbing terror that was the only thing keeping him from being confused. To be confused, you had to be thinking, and all his mind could do was flash up danger warnings and prompt him to run. Run fast, and run far. Run until he was safe.

"Ghiiijiiighijighijii!" The mega laughed. "Shine of Bee!" The golden light lit up the end of the tunnel as the destructive attack proceeded to tear away at the misconfigured mountain, burst off again and again as TyrantKabuterimon cleaned off the roof of the passageway and causing a cave in further up, trapping the Nightmare Soldiers like little rats. "My prey…my meal…Ghiiijiighijii!"

'Don't calm down.' Richard ordered himself. 'If you calm down, you'll think, and there's so much not making sense it'll confuse you. Focus on getting out of this alive…on everyone getting out alive.'

"Bee Cyclone!"

The armour on his back receding, a fresh swarm of drones took flight and surged down toward the hapless players, and Richard, cursing himself, felt his eyes close as he waited for impact and the end, only to snap open as light filtered in and familiar words were heard.

"Komodomon Digivolve to…"

"Agumon Digivolve to…"

"DRAKEMON!"

"GEOGREYMON!"

The two champions surged forward, partners at their sides, unleashing a torrent of flames in an effort to ward off the incoming killing machines, the effort proving ineffective as they overwhelmed the vaccines, and Richard felt his legs move. Agumon was by him as the moved forward, the fear of his own death was gone, only fear for the others…he didn't think about what he was about to do, only that he wanted to protect everyone…his friends…his comrades…his sister…

Exploading into bits of wood and canvas and string, Richard's digivice unleashed a blast of orange light as his whole body shone brightly, engulfed in orange light, obscuring all detail. The same effect happened to Agumon as the two felt themselves becoming lighter, Agumon's pains from battle fading as words were torn from their lips as a ragged war cry.

"BIO EVOLUTION!" Richard roared.

"AGUMON BIO-DIGIVOLVE TO…WARGREYMON!"

---

Gazing on with blurred vision, Tanya clung tightly to Lupmon. Her whole body was shaking violently as fear gripped her. She couldn't scream…couldn't move…Cait had literally had to drag her along and into the tunnel as they tried to flee. This was real…she was right here and she was going to die. When the bee drones had flown down towards them, she hard buried her face in Lupmon's fur and covered the wolf's eyes…she didn't want to see this…she didn't want to die…it had all gone so wrong. Then Komodomon, Agumon, Sythe and Cait had moved, had gone to fight. Fear wasn't stopping them but death would. She could see them, not very well, but she knew it was them, and she wanted to cry out, tell them to come back, but her mouth just wouldn't make the words, and she could only watch as they were crushed by the tide of enemies and Kazoo moved to help, and began to glow…not the small glow of the hand for champion she was familiar with, or the great flash of ultimate she had caught glimpses of…but a full on shine that engulfed player…no…human and Digimon as they became one.

WarGreymon.

"GREAT TORNADO!"

The attack tore through the bugs, shredding them with ease as Wargreymon came to a halt and set about eradicating those that remained with sweeps of his Dramon Destroyers. There was no need to question how he knew the way to use his weapons and attacks, he just did…as if he should know…had always known. Was this, the part that was Richard wondered, what it was like to be a Digimon.

"Got them all, partner." Agumon's voice called out in his (their?) head.

"Yah…" Richard responded, his breathing heavy as he tried to process everything that had just happened.

They were in the game…he was Wargreymon…TyrantKabuterimon had started laughing again…his sister and friends seemed to be okay…

TyrantKabuterimon. 'Prioritise.' He told himself, looking up to the purple bug, the thrum of his wings stirring the already turbulent air, causing the tuft of red hair that stemmed from under his helmet to blow in the wind as WarGreymon adopted a combat stance. Work out the how and why later…how and why was Eight's job anyway…not his…Deal with the immediate problem first.

"Oy…partner." He called…thought…how were they communicating?

"Yah…partner?" Agumon responded, his voice laden with charged energy.

"You know what's goin' on?"

"We just got thrown into some wacko new gig with shiny new gear and a shady contract. We're loosing the crowd and need to unleash a sudden new smash hit." Was Agumon's reply.

Nodding to himself, at least, Richard assumed he did…it felt like it, he focused his full attention upon the purple menace.

"I thought it was something like that…so, second question…do you know how we fly?"

"Can Hendrix rift?"

Despite the circumstances, Richard couldn't help but cry out 'Wa-hooo' as he felt himself surge into the air.

---

Concealed within the shadows, Eight and Shademon were doing two of the things they did best. Hide and think.

The first part was going very well, their thuggish opponent hadn't noticed them slip away, but the latter wasn't going so well. Wrapped in the darkness of the shattered rocks, Eight sat in an almost meditative position. He had tried dealing with the problem in the manner he dealt with every other. Sat back, looked over his work and workings, and proceeded to isolate irregularities and trace them back to the source, thus working out all that had happened and how. Only this made no sense.

More than one point had reacted…allowed. His theory that only one Wild Land would become the window was just a theory, and he had put in multiple fail-safes and security features on his programmes in order to ensure total security should even all of them become windows, but for the digital world to spill over like this was inconceivable, and for what had also had happened…his…their…being _here_, it was nothing short of impossible.

"Heh…"

"What's so funny?" Shademon leered, not removing his glowing eyes from the battle as he kept watch, in case they would need to flee.

"I just used the taboo word 'impossible.'…heh…no such thing, is there." There was no question in his voice as he lifted a rock from the ground and threw it. It was a risk to their security, but TyrantKabuterimon had killed everything else that had been about to emerge in this area, and he was too busy hunting the others. "This world of yours has a twisted way of doing things." Thinking of the certain death they all now faced.

"Indeed." Shademon responded. "But not altogether unkind. Kazoo and Agumon have become one."

"What?" Eight left his thoughts to peer around the boulder, careful not to leave the safety of the shadows as he watched WarGreymon unleash his Great Tornado, smashing through the swarm of drones Tyrant Kabuterimon sent towards him, the great bug pushing its wings harder as it moved to avoid the drill like strike. "Well I'll be…the music man is going all punk…good for him." The hacker slunk back into the shadows.

"You aren't going to watch?"

"There's not a single programmer in Pandai's offices who could sort this mess out, if we've any hope of knowing what the hell is going on, I've got to do it." His eye twitched as he watched the rock he'd thrown suddenly shudder and begin moving on its own accord, sliding and skidding along the ground as it seemed to be sucked into the gorge TyrantKabuterimon had risen from. "Well…that's certainly interesting." Eight pondered slightly as more small elements of the landscape continued to be sucked in.

---

Steadying his perception of the world, Richard and Agumon turned to bring TyrantKabuterimon back into their sights.

'Being Mega is certainly a lot different from being an Ultimate.' Agumon rumbled.

'This is my first time as a Digimon, it's a helluva head-rush.' Richard responded.

'We've got a problem though. If we have to break through those groupies of his, then we lose all our momentum and we can't make a real impact, and it's too easy for him to dodge.' Agumon grimaced.

'Great Tornado provides it's own thrust, yeah?' Richard began to ponder.

'More of a kick than the finest of hooligans can deliver.'

'Then I've got an idea. Let's rock!'

"Great Tornado!" WarGreymon roared in his dual voice, slamming his dramon destroyers together, surrounding himself in the destructive orange aura as he rushed in a spiral towards the giant beetle, which released another wave of his metallic drones towards them, confident in their use as a shield once more, watching as they were decimated by the spiralling force as he directed his body in preparation for WarGreymon's exit, knowing that the attacks great weakness was it's linear force, unable to turn. Sweeping out to the left, a small 'Ghiijiijii' left his throat as WarGreymon burst through his drone shield, missing completely, his laugh vanishing as WarGreymon cut out of his attack, flipping in mid air to point back around towards the virus before bursting forward. Unable to react in time, TyrantKabuterimon wailed in pain as WarGreymon drilled into the orb that sat upon the mid point of his length, before shredding his way through the beetles body and causing his long, armoured tail to hang for a moment before dropping off, it's vertical fall suddenly slanting side-ways as it was pulled into the great ravine.

"That doesn't look too good…" WarGreymon rumbled as he caught sight of the chunks of land falling into the ravine.

A coughing noise that sounded more like the spluttering of a giant engine caught WarGreymon's ear as he looked back to TyrantKabuterimon, the great virus was still airborne and looked very, very ticked off as he whirled to face the mega level warrior.

"Ghiiijiiiiiiii. Not bad…not bad…" Those silver eyes narrowed. "I will enjoy tearing you…"

The armoured pouch on his back opening, TyrantKabuterimon released more of his Cyclone Bee drones, but rather than swarm, they instead congregated around his destroyed midsection, clinging to one another to form a long trail, before fragmenting for a moment and restructuring in the image of the mega beetles tail.

"I feed…destroyed Digimon become new drones…drones fight…drones fix…I am immortal…Ghiiijiiijiighiijiii!" The beetle laughed, savouring his foes expression. WarGreymon's face may be sealed behind a near impenetrable mask, but his eyes were clear.

"You mean…all those drones are made from destroyed Digimon?" WarGreymon gaped.

"My prey…my food…my drones…Ghiijiijii." The beetle chuckled.

"You disgust me!" WarGreymon swung out his destroyers. "Great Tornado!"

"Bee Cyclone!"

Tearing through the drones, WarGreymon prepared to follow through on his previous strategy, only to find that TyrantKabuterimon hadn't tried to dodge. The great predator had held his ground, and was deploying a strategy of his own.

"Shine of Bee!"

Armour shimmering, TyrantKabuterimon unleashed his destructive attack, the force tearing out from his body that had previously proven capable to tearing apart the mountainside, as well as droves of lower level Digimon and his own drones without mercy, and WarGreymon ploughed straight in. And even through the noise of the eruption, TyrantKabuterimon could be heard laughing.

Abruptly stopping when a loud and vicious crack signalled the snapping of his lower jaw from its hinge as a Dramon destroyer impacted with his face.

Roaring with a feral battle cry, WarGreymon delivered blow after blow upon his opponent, one dramon destroyer was locked into the shattered jaw, the other swinging back and forth, smashing, shredding and rending the virus type's head. Wargreymon looked a mess, his weapons and armour were cracked and missing pieces, one of his horns had been blown off and his scaled skin was burnt and ragged, parts of his hair burnt away leaving the remainder black, but the warrior carried on, Agumon's combat instincts taking over. The energy surrounding their Great Tornado attack had allowed them to survive Shine of Bee, and they were exploiting their survival as best as they could.

Regaining his bearings, TyrantKabuterimon lashed out with his large claws and after a few blows was able to knock his assailant away, WarGreymon swinging his arms down and channelling his energies. He had to land a finishing blow before the beetle could regenerate, and with the damage he'd delivered in that rush, he should be able to crush it with his signature attack, a swirl of intense flames emerging between the claws of his destroyers.

"TERRA…!"

There wasn't a cry, more a choking noise as a burning pain surged through WarGreymon's body, the building flame of his attack dispelling as he a spasm took over him, and before he could recover and wonder 'what the hell was that', TyrantKabuterimon's tail suddenly lashed up and struck him, sending the warrior flying back and crashing down into the remains on the warped, polygonal, ill coloured Mountain.

---

On the ground, things were getting worse as the pull of the gorge increased, small boulders were shifted and clothing and hair blew wildly, as if caught in a maelstrom. Clinging tightly to Lupmon with one arm, Dainya struggled to hold on to the small rock that was acting as her anchor, Lupmon doing the same, her free arm digging into the ground as the two struggled to avoid being pulled into the mysterious abyss. Unfortunately, they were no longer playing by the game's rules, and Tanya simply didn't have the physical power to keep her grip and found herself being sucked from her hold, hanging in the air, inches off the ground, with Lupmon as her only support. But, alas, the wolf was caught off guard by the sudden change in pressure, and was too weakened from battle to keep her holding, as poor as it already was. Her claws scraped along the ground for a few moments before the pair was sent flying along, bouncing once off the ground as their screams were sucked up by the wind. Then they suddenly came to a stop, and a scream of pain shot by them as Dainya looked up with her blurred vision, cursing her lack of glasses, and found a mass of blond hair billowing in her direction, a white clad arm stretched out, reaching from around a large rocky outcrop, and seizing a hold of the collar on her hoodie.

"Damnit girl! Climb! I can't hold this for long!" Her rescuer yelled, voice strained with pain and frustration.

"Sythe?" Tanya called, slightly bemused.

"CLIMB DAMNIT!"

Snapping into an effort at action, Tanya tried to pull an arm up to climb along the outstretched one, or dig into the ground, but the suction force was preventing her from so much as lifting it. Fortunately, even injured, Lupmon had bounds of energy to call upon, not to mention hidden strengths, as she moved from her position at Tanya's waist to scramble along the ground, keeping a grip upon her partner, before shifting her grip onto Sythe and pulling Tanya up and behind the rock where, without the howling winds and high pressure, it was a lot easier to breathe.

"Sythe…that's you…yeah…?" Tanya gasped. First thing was first, and she wanted to know her friend was really there. It was clear that she was scared. Despite the having reached the sanctuary the outcrop offered, Tanya had taken a firm grip of the saving arm and was showing no signs of letting go.

"Yeah, it's me kiddo. I don't look that different do I? Your black hair is a big change, and someone was padding their bra but…" Sythe prattled, her voice slightly different, lacking the protective distortion given by the microphone system.

"Black hair?" Tanya's voice easily gave away her confused state. Yes there were more important things happening just now, but she was in such a state of shock that she could only process one question at a time.

"Not worked it out yet? Our bodies seem to be our own, I'm stuck with my blond hair, you with your black, we're really here, and this really hurts…" Sythe winced.

Looking at the girl with her weak eyes, Tanya could see that her jacket was shredded and lying over the battered form of Agumon, who was breathing shallowly, while the shirt Sythe wore was similarly damaged.

"On the upside…no blood. Seems we can't bleed here…makes things a lot cleaner…" Sythe panted, clearly worn by the exertion of saving her friend. "Those bugs have some a nasty sting." There was a sharp inhale as the PvP lover leant the wrong way and put too much pressure on one of her wounds.

"Are you…"

"Don't bother. I'm alive, I'll live." Sythe responded almost sharply.

"Sorry…"

"Don't be."

"Sythe! What's going on? Everything is broken and scary." Lupmon pined. Her battle instincts would have been going off if it wasn't so evident that pulling Tanya up had been the last of her energy.

"We're in the game, hell is raging around us, and a giant bug is trying to eat us but my brother and Agumon became WarGreymon and are trying to beat the shite out of him." A slightly strain grin spread across Sythe's face, Tanya only able to pick it out because she could see the girl's bright teeth. "As for the why, I can only give you the motivation of my brother, he's always been a bit over-protective."

"B-brother?" Tanya stammered, before nearly yelping and burrowing herself in closer to Sythe as a thunderous explosion went off and lit up the dark sky.

"Shhhh…" Sythe soothed, patting her hair down. She was terrified herself, but she was able to keep a rational confidence thanks to her faith in her brother, and her instinct to protect. Loosing it wouldn't do the girl she called Dainya, Agumon, or Lupmon any good. "Kazoo is my big brother, and I guess my little battle charge back there set him off. Don't worry, he'll save us, and Eight will figure out the rest. It's what we keep them around for, eh?" Tanya and Lupmon were too freaked out to notice the wear in Sythe's voice, the effort she had to put into her confidence, and they missed her glance up to the mountain as WarGreymon streaked by, worry lines marring her face.

'Richard…'

---

'Agumon…what happened…' The human half of Wargreymon asked as the cracked, battered, burnt, and tarnished golden warrior pulled himself up to his feet, body shaking with the effort.

'Terra Force…It's too much…we're too damaged to use it properly. The Dramon Destroyers are wrecked and can't contain it, and we're so badly injured that using it is worse than using…usinig…ugh…I'm out of musical comparisons…'

'So if we try and pull our big hitter, it'll tear us apart?' Richard questioned.

'Pretty much, yeah…like Simon Cowel does to people who suck.' Agumon responded, a wry smile existing somewhere.

Looking up, the pair could see the drones crawling out from TyrantKabuterimon's back, covering his face and melting into his chrome digizoid armoured exoskeleton, healing the damage WarGreymon had just managed to inflict, at great cost to his own body.

'Damnit…we need to take this guy out in one shot…' Richard cursed. 'But we're out of it…not sheet music, dodgy instruments, and not even a song in my head…'

Looking around, WarGreymon tried to find something useful, someway to tip the scales, but was coming up empty. Nothing around could be used to help smash TyrantKabutermion, anything remotely big enough had been wiped out when he had frenziedly used Shine of Bee.

The he noticed the gorge.

It was something hidden to those on the ground, but from his vantage point, WarGreymon could see that the interior had become something akin to a giant sea of whirlpools, sucking up everything that was pulled into it's great maw and sending them parts unknown, their swirls composed of what looked like a little of every spark of light and colour, whipping around viciously.

They might not be able to destroy TyrantKabuterimon, but the could very well get rid of him.

'Given that we're sharing a dressing room right now, I know what you're thinking.' Agumon sighed. 'And pain is I'm thinking it too.'

'What will the kick back be like?'

'Like telling Chad Krueger he sucks …but if he lets a swarm go at everyone else…' Agumon trailed off.

'So we gotta give the show of our lives…' Richard relented.

'Lets roll!' Agumon grinned like a mad rocker, rather than a docile harmonica player.

Pushing off, WarGreymon launched towards TyrantKabuterimon. There was no wit, no clever line, just a raging war cry that eventually became 'Great Tornado'

"Ghiiijiijiighiiijii." Tyrant Kabuterimon laughed as his drones swarmed into a shield, soaking up the main force of his prey's momentum, as he prepared to unleash his 'Shine of Bee' attack and finish him off. The meaty morsel had barely survived the last attack, and his odds of surviving a second burst didn't exist. "Shine of Bee!"

The explosion swept out, TyrantKabuterimon laughing like the maniac he was, only to once again trail out as the a circular blot of his attack suddenly split apart as the symbol of the crest of courage raced towards him, spinning rapidly as the Grey Shield it was attached to. Shine of Bee had taken a lot out of it, tearing at it like it had WarGreymon's body before, but it had completely shielded the warrior, who proceeded to throw it aside, it's two halves flying away as, aided by the suction force of the gorge, the bio evolved Digimon was able to regain the momentum of his attack, the orange spiral driving into the virus and forcing him down towards the swirling voids. He wasn't boring through this time, keeping the blunt shields of destroyers so as to focus on forcing him downwards. Once he could feel the currents in the air taking over, he broke the spin and sunk the claws on his feet into the slits of his armour, lashing out with his claw blades, shredding tearing at the beetles orange wings.

'Have to act fast…' WarGreymon thought, too frantic to assign the thoughts to their owners, running on instinct they were almost indistinguishable. 'Can't let him fly, can't let him heal'. Destroying the wings by his shoulders, and those on his waist, the golden warrior pushed off of the virus' body, activating his Great Tornado again to gain an upward boost, pushing it again and again to escape the strongest pull of the void pools. Looking down, he watched as TyrantKabuterimon became caught up in the swirls, unable to break away without his ferociously powerful wings. But drones were pouring out of his back, many were lost in the voids, but some were able to melt into his wings and begin repairing them as the virus began to try and force its way back up.

'He's getting up.' One of the halves lamented…which was it…they were so tired they couldn't tell anymore.

'We gotta knock him right down…' The other responded.

'If we use Great Tornado…we'll miss…the winds and pulls are too strong down there…we won't be able to steer.' The first lamented.

"One choice." They spoke as one, lifting their all-together too heavy arms up.

"TERRA!" The flames grew between their hands, pushing the destroyers out as they heaved the small sun above their head. Data burst out from their body, armour vanished and it felt like death was clawing at them, but they weren't done…not yet. "FORCE!" Swinging down, the great warrior threw the sun down towards the void, watching the force of the attack obliterate his own arms as it left. The world swam as they fell, and all they could see was their own data flowing away from them, as if their whole body was bleeding…they didn't see what happened to their attack.

But TyrantKabuterimon did. For a moment, the whole world got very bright, and very hot. His drones gave of a high pitched squeal as their metal plates fused together before they burst and he was forced down into the myriad of colours of the void pool, the reaction of the blast spreading throughout, causing every gorge and split to light up, and the winds abruptly stopped, and the whole world fell silent long enough to here one girl's anguished scream as WarGreymon fell.

"RICHARD!"

Looking out across the battered landscape, a new faux sun rising in the distance, illuminating the signs of battle and destruction, a single though passed through WarGreymon's mind as his existence came to an end, bursting into millions of fragments of data

'Even worn down like this…it's still such a beautiful world…'

And as he vanished, a bright white light suddenly emerged from the gorges in the land and sky, dominating everything, invading vision without mercy, even with eyes closed.

---

"It's…gone." Mary's eye twitched. "It's all…how can it all…MR JONES!"

Flying from her seat, knocking the poor item of furniture to the ground, Mary ran through the office as programmers helplessly typed at keys, clicked mice, slapped towers and scratched their chins as they tried to fathom what had just happened. Almost crashing into the door, Mary steadied herself before knocking loudly and quickly.

"Mr Jones! Mr Jones! What the hell just happened! Mr Jones!?" Receiving no response, the young programmer proceeded to push the door open on her own violation, and found herself confronted with an office that, aside from a small potted plant labelled 'Mr Plant', was completely devoid of life. "Mr Jones?…Cecil?" Mary stepped into the office cautiously, taking a moment to check beneath the large desk and behind the filing cabinet before looking to the unlocked window. "Bastard! You better not be trying to scale the drain pipe again!" She suddenly yelled, running to the window and throwing it open. "This is damn important! MR JONES!"

---

"I told you…I heard her scream, and there was a loud clatter. I went through and her room was…empty." Mrs Mills sat rocking herself slightly on her couch as the police officer prompted her to drink some of her tea in an effort to soothe the woman's frayed nerves.

"Sorry, we just need to be sure of getting every word." The mousy haired woman apologised.

"I don't…I don't know where she could have gone…or how I just…"

"Shhh, don't worry." The officer soothed, taking a moment to throw her partner a look, who received it and caught the message.

'What the hell was going on?'

You didn't get too many locked room mysteries in real life…never mind so many in the one night. Throughout the city, children, teens, and some adults had all spontaneously vanished, disappeared, without explanation. It wouldn't be until later that they'd get the figures for the whole city…then the state…then the country…

Then the total figure for the whole world.

And this…was only the beginning.

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**Keyo:** If Kick-Ass and Awesome had a baby, it would be this chapter.

Well, I wrote these notes at 0420am. I actually wrote this chapter last weekend (because I have an essay to work on this week) but am stuck doing this at this insane hour because Raven didn't send me his notes and I never write mine until I have his (to avoid repeating what he says.

And so the series sees its first fatality. It does kinda piss me off because I really like WarGreymon and Richard and his partner. It was really fun doing dialogue for them and all their musical metaphors and connections. Part of the reason for this death, to refer to Serenity, is to let you all know '_the cast are not safe, let alone immortal_'. I do not intend to be too friendly to them, and this is just the start of things going wrong. Plot means cream-puffs hitting fans guys. On a side note, I love the 'Great Tornado' attack. It's ability to chain in Digimon Rumble Arena makes it really effective.

Expect an update next week (I hope) and for some answers to be revealed. This is gonna be your last chance to place bets for who everyone really is.

**Raven:**I'm not sure this is the _only_ child of Kick-Ass and Awesome. More like 27 and 28 are twins, with 27 having popped her head out first.

Poor Richard. Truth be told, we were planning on him being dead before the story ever started, but as Liz changed, so did Richard, and we gave him some time to liven your days with music. I just realized, Richard/Kazoo's personality was based off of Fubuki/Atticus from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. So, he's named after a char in Banjo-Kazooie, looks like a guy from Bleach, and acts like a guy from Yugioh.

It's too late to come up with anything else legible, so I'll let this fine chapter come to a close by informing you all that I currently own Megaman ZX Advent, which is a fine DS game and Megaman game, though the first half of the game is completely linear. However, the gameplay differences between the two characters is rather awesome, and I love the A-Trans system, stealing nearly all the boss' attacks. Definitely worth playing.

Until next time!

**Keyo & Raven**


	29. Chapter 29

**Keyo: **Be grateful, I've got a lot of work to do, and still I managed to pull this off. Notes are where they belong as are property rights.

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**Chapter 29: **Tangled Webs! Pt 1

Gone Digital!

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Tanya groaned and shifted. She wanted nothing more than to curl up and stay asleep, no matter how bright and warm the morning was. Sadly, it was not to be as a bug that had settled in her ear refused to move, well, it did move, but it just didn't leave her ear. Scratching at her ear, she eventually sat up, moaning as the sunlight proved too harsh on her bad eyes. Slowly her mind registered that she was not in her room, the blurs around her were largely green and brown, and up above, a great blue smudge that was obviously a sky, the sound of running water met her ears and, looking around, she could see a shimmering surface that was likely a river.

"You're awake. Good, it's a god-damn pain to carry someone who's asleep and all floppy."

"Sythe?" Tanya called; turning her head to find the white smudge that was her friend crouched by the river, likely taking a drink before standing.

"Misspelling and all." The girl returned, her voice sounding tired as she walked over and crouched by the dark haired girl, close enough that she could sort of make her out. Even with her fuzzy vision, Tanya could see that Sythe's true form was very beautiful, backed by long lengths of brilliant blonde hair.

"What happened? Where are we? Where's Lupmon?" Tanya asked in rapid succession, becoming more and more frantic, prompting Sythe to place hands upon the girl's shoulders and urge her to calm down.

"Shhh, shhh. Lupmon's helping Agumon find something to eat…She was getting impatient for you to wake up and I needed some peace." The white clad girl dropped back to sit down upon the ground, flicking the long tails of her coat out as she did so. "I…what just happened…" A long, haggard sigh crawled out as she hung her head, even Tanya could see that there was a great weight on her shoulders. Going loose, Tanya dropped to lie on her back, letting out a hiss as she wound up lying upon some of her wounds. but not seeming to care. "It all went a whole new breed of wrong…and Richard…"

"Richard?" Tanya asked, remembering now Sythe's anguished cry as the battle in the sky came to a close. "Ah! What happened to WarGreymon?"

"They died…" Sythe's words were cold and free of emotion as she gazed up at the sky. "Right before that big flash of light they…they fell apart…just, exploded into nothing."

"You said he was…your brother?"

"Heh…yeah…that big pain in the ass that he was…"

"I'm so…I'm sorry…I…" Tanya began to babble, trying to find the right words.

"Save it." Sythe suddenly sat back up again, before hoping up to crouch on her haunches, before standing upright and scanning the surrounding foliage. "We're not safe and I want to get moving as soon as Agumon and Lupmon get back." Sythe's tone was harsh, and as Tanya stood up, she could see that the girl was tense, but then she stepped too far away and became a singular blur again.

"Oh, okay." The dark haired girl relented, causing Sythe to sigh.

"Sorry I snapped…I just…"

"I know." And unsettling silence filled the air, disturbed only by the sound of the flowing water and far off noises of wild life until Tanya spoke up. "What do you think happened to the others?"

"No clue. Lupmon said she couldn't smell them, but we haven't traveled far, especially since we had to carry you…you sleep like a rock."

"Sorry."

The silence returned, broken this time by Sythe.

"So…what's your real name?" She sounded a little embarrassed and clumsy, possibly only asking to fill the void.

"Hm? Oh! Eh…It's Tanya. Tanya Mills." The black haired girl offered her hand.

"Elizabeth Evans. But you can call me Liz." The two shook.

"DAAAAAAAAIIIINNNNNNNYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAA!!!" A wail pierced the air as Lupmon's furred form exploded out from within a bush and brutally tackled her partner to the ground before lavishing her with a torrent of wet licks in greeting, overjoyed at seeing her awake.

And as Agumon walked out, sighing and carrying a load of mushrooms, a small smile crept onto Liz's face, before vanishing once again.

---

Hidden within the trees, a set of eyes watched the group as the sat and ate and drank. They were in the Lady's territory, all knew not to enter the Lady's territory, knowing of her wrath and how she dealt with intruders. Not that the Lady would be sore to learn of the intruders…oh no…it had been awhile since she had tried some new food…and those two…yes…they were certainly something new…

Scurrying almost silently, the figure withdrew…it had to report to the Lady.

---

It took a little while to calm Lupmon down, and the foursome began to make their way through the jungle, following along the course of the river as they went. Giant trees filled the landscape, decorated with exotic flowers with large spider-webs strung up in places high above, joining the trees in casting odd shadows upon the jungle floor. The going wasn't easy as Agumon, Lupmon, and Liz were all injured, and Tanya wasn't able to see properly, but the blonde insisted on pushing onward, refusing to spend too long resting. The mushrooms had helped; eating apparently had helped heal their injuries.

"So Sythe isn't Sythe…she's Liz…and Dainya isn't Dainya…she's Tanya?" Lupmon's ears twitched as she tried to process this line of thought for the 7th time.

"Exactly Lupmon." Tanya gave a sigh, unable to get too frustrated with her adorable partner.

"So what about Agumon?"

"I'm annoyed." The saurian responded.

"So Dainya is Tanya, Sythe is Liz, and Agumon is Annoyed!" Lupmon cheered, causing a synchronized sigh to be unleashed from the black haired girl and orange dinosaur.

Looking up, Tanya could make out the fuzz that was Liz still making an effort to push on ahead, to stride out as alone as was safe, the dignity of the effort ruined by her staggering and need to pause and rest against a tree every now and then. She had joined their initial conversation, regarding their location (culminating in the possibilities that they were somewhere on Earth, still in the game, or the General's theory was right and they had been propelled into _the_ digital world.), but had said little and afterwards had moved to the front. Tanya wanted to say something, or even just talk with the girl…but she didn't have a clue as to what to say. Her brother and friend had just been obliterated, Tanya wasn't sure how to work through the loss herself, let alone help the stubborn girl, especially with the current weirdness that had been thrust upon them. She was glad for Lupmon's silly questions, it helped distract her from it all.

"Help, J-Mojya!" A voice suddenly broke the air, gruff and hindered by spluttering.

Looking around, Tanya tried to find the source of the cries, but her perception of her surroundings was so bad that all she could do was stand and worry as Liz's blur sprang into motion, Agumon and Lupmon hot on her heels.

"Guys! Wait" Tanya called, beginning to run forward only to trip over an unseen root. "Guys?"

Liz's protective instincts flared as she heard the shout. She was glad for it; really, it made her active, instinct taking over. Liz was, quite doubtlessly, a clever girl, one of the schools top students, but she preferred instinct, she preferred action. When she had to think, it meant she thought about everything, including things she didn't want to think about, the way she felt about things, they way she was feeling right now.

Richard was gone and he wasn't going back. As long as they were walking, that thought would be trapped, circling around in her head, distracting her and making her sad. Someone needed her help right now. That was immediate, dangerous and distracting, it was what she needed. Spying the brown mass thrashing around in the river, Liz dropped her jacket from her shoulders, clutching it now in her hands, and ran full out, willing her body to ignore the pain the stress she was now placing on it.

"Catch this!" She yelled, lashing out with the jacket towards the thrashing figure, who remained just out of reach, slowly coming to be pulled more and more under the water.

"Help! J-Mojya!" She presumed he tried to yell, as much of it was swept up in incoherent gurgling.

"Damnit…" The private of the Nightmare Soldiers growled, before hurling herself into a dive straight at the drowning victim, wincing as the cold water stung her body and she found herself quickly being overwhelmed by the current of the water. She was a good swimmer, but the current was strong and her body was weakened. Still, Liz was a relentless being, and she pushed on, fuelling her movements with her will-power, reaching out once she was close enough and seizing a hold of a thick handful of brown hair, pulling herself in close to the struggling figure and doing her best to keep them both up above the water's surface, her limbs starting to ache as her clothes became a heavy hindrance as she fought. 'Damn.' Liz grunted internally as her legs beat against the water, her companion spluttering. 'Sorry Richard…looks like I went and rushed in again…'

"LIZ!" Agumon cried out, running along the riverbank. Looking further along, the lizard's jaws opened and a cry of 'Pepper Breath' was heard as fireballs rained down upon a tree, the explosive force they possessed eventually breaking through its base and causing it to fall into the water, forming a barrier. "Grab it Liz!"

The girl in question actually couldn't hear the words over the water rushing in her ears and the occasional gurgled cry of 'help' and 'J-Mojya' from the giant hairball, but she was more than able to get the hint when she saw the tree collapse, and with her free hand latched on, actually crying out as she felt her arm being pulled sharply as the river attempted to pull her and the fluff ball further downstream while her one injured arm clung desperately to the wood.

"Agumon hurry up!" She screamed in pain, a thumping filling the air as Agumon and Lupmon rushed onto the makeshift dam and seized Liz's arm in their claws, the rookies working on a 'heave-ho' to yank her up out of the water, straining to lift the combined of the human and her rescued victim, but they perceived and both were eventually settled on the tree, which was quickly evacuated as all four dropped to lie on the jungle floor, sweating, panting, gasping and generally recovering from the sudden exertion placed upon their hurt bodies.

"Th…Thank you…J-Mojya…" The soggy lump made out in between gasps and wheezes.

"Not a…not a problem…" Liz and Agumon returned with identical punctuations of inhalations.

"Guuuuys!" Tanya's voice filled the area as she staggered along, sounding a little desperate and worried. "Where are you? I can't see…"

"Over here!" Liz's arm shot up in the air, waving so as to gain the shortsighted girl's attention. As she drew into sociable range, Lupmon made an effort to pounce her partner, but instead keeled over and lay face down on the ground, her legs too tired out now to move.

"I can't stand up Tanya…" The wolf sighed.

Tanya smiled at her partner before turning and presenting a sullied white garment to Liz. "I believe this is yours, I found it a little way back lying on the ground."

"Ah, thank you." Liz smiled taking it back and letting it drop down on her chest as silence once more settled in.

Trying to occupy herself, Tanya looked to their new companion, freshly rescued from the brink of a water grave and noticed he looked rather familiar. His body was mostly spherical and covered with thick brown hair or fur, leaving only his hands and feet visible, which looked mostly human. He was about the same height as Tanya was, but much broader. Getting a little suspicious, Tanya let her hand stray to her side where her digivice was kept and pulled it free and pointed it at the brown mass. At first, there was no reaction, so she decided to start pressing some buttons, beginning with the large one just below the little screen. As she pushed it in, the device gave off a familiar 'boo-weep' as a projection of the creature, somewhat more upright and proud looking and dry, appeared.

J-Mojyamon

**Type: Data**

Level: Champion

**Attacks:**Jungle Punch, Jungle Headbutt, Jungle Bone.

"I guess…we really are in the digital world." The dark haired girl thought to herself, a bundle of excitement began to blossom within her at this realisation, enough to override her fears and worries as her eyes remained transfixed on J-Mojyamon, who was slowly opening up his big green eyes.

"What strange Digimon you are, J-Mojya." The fuzz ball sat up. "But thank-you for saving me, J-Moj…Moj…MOJYAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE!" Eyes wide with terror, J-Mojyamon began to scramble back, almost falling back into the river, as one arm raised to point up towards the trees. "Oh no, J-Mojya! I'm in her lands; you don't work for her do you, J-Mojya! I nearly died peacefully drowning now I'm going to be dragged off and devoured, J-Mojya!!!"

Sitting up with the other Digimon, Liz joined them and Tanya in giving the mammalian Digimon a rather incredulous, confused, and slightly worried look.

"Ummm…Mr J-Mojyamon?" Tanya took a small step forward, but retreated when it made J-Mojyamon scream. "Um… We're new here and…uh…"

"You're starting to freak us out." Agumon filled. "What's with the panic attack?"

"You don't know, J-Mojya!? These are the Lady's lands, J-Mojya! We're all in terrible danger!"

"From what?" Liz asked, eyebrow cocked, finding it very hard to care about life threatening situations. She was too wiped out physically and emotionally from the last two.

As if to answer her question, there was a loud rustling noise from behind them and several dark beings launched themselves from the foliage, straight at the small troupe, J-Mojyamon's terrified cry filling the air as they came.

"Dokugumon!" Liz cried.

"What?" Tanya's voice was a high pitched squeak as she tried to make out the dark blurs that were now surrounding them, stepping backward slowly, shivering in fear.

"Virus type, Champion level. Attacks, Poison Thread, Poison Cobweb, Venom Blast." A grim smile grew on her face as she pulled her coat back over her shoulders and drew her digivice from her belt; water running off it as she lifted it up. "Me and Agumon have exterminated hundreds of these bugs in the Network Jungle, I know their pathetic stats off by heart…and I really need to vent some frustration." Liz looked, in a word, scary. A dark rage seemed to have settled around her as she prepared to vent all the pain she had just felt upon these Digimon. "Let's go Agumon!" She cried, pulling up the digivice, only for nothing to happen.

Rather than the bright orange flame that normally engulfed her avatar's hand in game, Liz found that only a dim glow had surrounded her appendage, trickling into the machine, her eyes widening in horror as her already tired body began to feel even worse.

"Wh…wha?"

"Li-iz…?" Agumon cast a worried look back. No matter how combat able, one rookie versus 5 Champions wasn't good odds.

"I, I don't understand it…" Liz felt her knees wobble a little, she felt so tired.

"Poison Thread!" The Dokugumon chanted in unision as Lupmon and Agumon countered with Pepper Breath and Howl Buster, blowing away the initial assault but were quickly overwhelmed.

"Tanya!" Lupmon cried out, as the girl fumbled with her digivice.

'Wh-what do I do…' The girl panicked. 'I've always just used the 'Digivolve' command on the screen…how do I make this thing work…'

Her internal questioning came to a halt as she felt the warm, sticking thread bind her body, the poison in it sapping her strength as she lost her balance and keeled over, hitting the ground, finding herself face to face with Liz who was in a similar state, the panicking J-Mojyamon soon joining them, the sasquatch practically out of his mind with fear, for her part, Liz was glad his bindings covered his mouth, she doubted she could put up with his screaming much longer.

"Wh…what are you gonna do with us…?" Tanya stammered as the Dokgugumon began to gather their prey up, one for each to carry, as they were loaded onto their broad backs and carried off into the jungle.

"I think…I think it's pretty obvious." Liz yawned, clearly irritated at having done so, her eyelids drooping as exhaustion took over. The Dokugumon picked up speed until they launched themselves into the trees, leaping silently from one tree to the next as they carried on through their home territory, bringing their spoils back to their Lady.

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**Raven: **Last week (which we forgot, so we're doing it this week) marks the sixth month anniversary of "Of Blood and Binary" hitting the public internet. There are two methods we used to figure this out. First is arithmetically. A year has 52 weeks, and since we update the chapters each week (save a few misses), we would have hit the halfway mark upon Chapter 26 (which ended our first story arc, oddly enough). Second, and easier: This week is my very major, very painful, opera week, and if you remember, I had the same thing when we posted Chapter 2. We're about to do our first public performance Friday and I still don't understand this opera.

This is a rather filler-y chapter, but it's leading up to a pretty nice confrontation. One thing that makes this so cool is the fact that we are taking into account Tanya's blindness, which adds a limit to our character. We're gonna do that with a couple other characters, though a little less seriously and more comically, but it adds contrast between the person in real life and their MMO counterparts.

Y'know, it feels weird, falling back into a basic groove after such an awesome plot point.

**Keyo: **I was actually not going to update this week, but Raven mentioned the whole anniversary thing, so I thought I better. I have **a lot** of work to do for the next few weeks; so don't be surprised if I go on hiatus.

Kudos to anyone who worked out that Sythe and Liz were the same person. If you check back to Chapter 4 where Liz first appeared, you'll see her name is given as 'Sidhe' rather than Evans. This is an error and one day I will fix it.

J-Mojyamon is fun to do dialogue for. He's so high strung and I like the 'J-Mojya' he puts at the end of sentences (it's where he began.) Tanya's eye-sight is truly terrible and is gonna be a problem for her. I feel really sorry for Liz, she can't relax long enough to mourn…

And yes, they are in the digital world now :p

See you all next update! As Raven said, it's kinda weird going back to the steady chaps after the big rush of the last while…feels a lot less stressful.

**Keyo & Raven**


	30. Chapter 30

**Keyo:** For too long the world of fanfiction has been without us, in a blaring flash of light we return! We may not own Digimon, but with our characters and stories, we will reach the heavens!

Who the hell do you think we are!?

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**Chapter 30** – Tangled Webs! Pt 2

As the world moves, she will not allow her stride to falter!

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At a rough mile in the air Juan drummed his fingers upon the armrest of his chair, gazing pensively out the window and up at the stars. His jaw widening, he ceased his drumming to life his hand to cover his mouth as he yawned. He hadn't slept since the expansion launch the night before, making it at least twenty-hour hours and it certainly showed on his normally cheery face. So much had happened upon that night, the bizarre influx of NPC Digimon and the distortion of the game culminating in some outside force shutting down his account and leaving him to watch as the entire game collapsed in a flash of white light and going silent. Like the other Mods he had talked to since, he would have thought it to be Eight Ball, but what happened after…the disappearances all over the world, every one of them a player of the game, and now he'd been called into a meeting for all the moderators. He was never called into meetings…the moderators never had meetings…and for to be told to get on the first flight to Japan just took it all too far.

'Cecil…this would be a lot less intimidating if you were here to explain it all to me.' The normally dashing moderator lamented. 'You would be able to make sense of what's going on…wouldn't you? But you're one of the missing…'

An uncomfortable groan drew his attention, causing him to turn, his tense expression to soften into one of a more sentimental worry. Next to him, Elaine stirred in her pill induced sleep as her face contorted in discomfort. The stern moderator, her appearance identical to that of her avatar counter-part, was not a fan of lying; it made her ill and afraid. Reaching across, Juan pulled the fallen blanket up over the woman and gently stroked her face, placing a gentle kiss upon her forehead as she relaxed a little and nuzzled into his hand, causing Juan to chuckle a little. She was normally so stern and severe; he enjoyed getting to see her in this softer state, but he was glad for the iron strength she possessed, he doubted he could keep his composure if she wasn't here with him.

'The Dashing Knight and the Iron Lady…A nice twist on the fairytale romance.'

Allowing Elaine's head to rest upon his shoulder, he moved his hand down to lace his fingers with hers, smiling a little as she unconsciously gave a small squeeze back, Juan allowed his eyes to drift back to the window and for some of the pensive look to return.

'Just what is going on…'

---

"What the hell is going on!"

Tightly bound in a cocoon made from web, Liz swung as she struggled against her bonds, shouting curses to the cave, the Dokugumon, the spider like digimon that hauled them here, scurried around at the noise, their beady green eyes looking up from their helmeted heads to take quick glances at the captors.

"We're going to be devoured, J-Mojya!" J-Mojyamon practically cried, hanging limp and sobbing.

"What sort of attitude is that?" Lis cried, trying to lean out to be able to scowl at the brown furred Digimon, taking measures to try and control her swinging in order to see around Tanya and Lupmon.

The near-sighted girl, for her part, was deathly pale, not struggling, not panicking, and just looking very scared. The web bindings were tight and her weak muscles were sore and her body felt heavy from hanging.

"You better not be going soft on me Tanya!" Liz's tone bore only a faux harshness as she gave Tanya a grin. "I've been in tighter spots than this…I swear!" The girl resumed her struggle within her bonds, swinging back and forth and around, eventually knocking into Agumon to her left and Tanya to her right, causing all three to swing as Agumon cried profanities and death-threats while Tanya merely screamed in terror.

"No fair!" Lupmon pouted. "I wanna play too!" With a few grunts and a bit of effort, she began to get into the swinging too, dragging J-Mojyamon into the pendulum like motions, the cave filling with the sound of screams, threats, laughter and struggle.

"How can you all be so calm about this, J-Mojya?" J-Mojyamon screamed as he was bounced around.

"Do I sound calm to you?" Tanya screamed back.

"Wheeee!" Lupmon contributed, before devolving into a mad fit of giggles.

"Make it stop, make it stop…please stop!" Tanya wailed, her stressed tone of voice catching the attention of Liz who swung her legs out as best she could, catching Tanya and Agumon in the back, breaking the rhythm of their swings.

"Lupmon…Lupmon, cut it out okay?" The white clad girl called out, getting the wolf to slow and stop her own swings, settling into a spin that shifted backward and forward as the wolf gave out a pine.

"So dizzy…"

"Is it over, J-Mojya…?"

"I wanna go home…" Tanya choked back a sob. "I'm scared…I'm not strong…I can't see…I…I just wanna go home…" Tears trickled down her eyes as she began to shiver within her confines, Liz's eyes softening.

"Tanya." Liz spoke in a firm tone, not harsh, more like she was trying to reassure Tanya through a display of her own resolution. "We'll be fine, I've seen what you and Lupmon can do, you're not weak."

"But…but we…" A hiccup punctuated Tanya's speech. "We can't deven digivolve…" The near-sighted girl sniffed.

"We_couldn't_ digivolve." Liz corrected. "We'll work it out."

"That's nice and encouraging…but it doesn't change our immediate situation of being rather thoroughly doomed, J-Mojya." J-Mojyamon whined, his somewhat spherical form sagging rather despondently.

"You're not really helping." Liz glared around her companions to the brown ball of fuzz.

The five screamed almost collectively as the large form of a Dokugumon suddenly lowered itself down from above, it's yellow helmed head hanging upside down before them, jaw open to reveal rows of dagger like teeth as it dangled before them all courtesy of a thick, purple, cable like web that extended from the back of its bulbous, segmented body.

"The lady will see you all now." It hissed.

---

The cave they were held in was part of a much large network, forming a series of catacombs beneath the ground of the forest, creating the underground home of the Dokugumon. The spider like Digimon scurried through long corridors or moved about upon the great web arches that that arced up the walls and across the ceilings of the various caverns that were dotted through the network. Still bound, the group walked, new webbing linking each of them to the other and to the Dokugumon who led them They also provided illumination for the tunnels, as the pinholes of light from the tiny air holes in the ceiling rebounded off of the webbing, creating a dim blow throughout. Privately, Tanya was glad that what little of the cave she could see was blurred, as she doubted she could cope with the sight of the large spiders she heard. Every so often, Lupmon would nudge her side to try and deliver reassurance and comfort, as well as receive some as strange smells began to assault the lupine's nose.

Taking the many twists and turns, Liz was caught up in her own private hell of thoughts and doubts. It was taking everything to focus on the now. The truth was, she was scared about as crapless as Tanya, things were going wrong in a big way and death was looming in their faces. When they had first arrived in the game, she had lunged at the drones without hesitation, without fear, regardless of her own weakness before them. But then, she'd had adrenaline, she had the power to make Agumon digivolve, she'd…she'd had her brother.

"Damnit…" She grumbled, sagging a little.

Behind her, she heard Tanya sniff, the sound causing Liz to stiffen. She had to focus on the now, the others needed her to stay focused, to stay brave, to keep trying to fight.

'But I feel so tired…'

Directly behind her, Agumon felt a sudden weight, as if the air had grown heavier and let out a low growl as they were led down a slope into a massive chamber, which seemed bottomless, a grand web spanning from one wall to another, twisting in the centre to form a massive cone, one section seeming to be hollowed out, forming an enclave. The chamber resonated with a clicking noise as many Dokugumon moved along the webs, their talon ended legs clinging to web and stone as they moved, jaws shifting to add to the creepy noise. Led along a thick bridge of web, the small group followed the Dokugumon to the base of the cone, stopping at a point where the enclave was most prominent in their line of vision. Suddenly a silence, more eerie than the constant clicking, settled in as the Dokugumon all stopped. Every single one as the whole of the catacombs fell into silence. A sudden chill was sent up the spines of the captives as there was a single grand chattering of clicks as all of the Dokugumon and KoDokugumon in the chamber turned to face the enclave before falling silent again.

Then it came, a sound slightly different from that of the spiders that surrounded them. It was heavier…deeper…And in the silence, it seemed so much louder, filling the whole of the catacombs and the minds of those five as it rang out.

Clack.

Clack.

Clack, clack

Clack, clack, clack clack.

Walking slowly forward, a single Digimon approached from the enclave, her pace slow as each of her six legs moved, the metal caps on the end of the insect like appendages helping to create the instinctive noise. The legs, each wrapped with a delicate weaving of ribbon, as if from a ballerina's shoe, attached to a large spherical abdomen, bearing the red of the majority of the body, but also royal purple rings and a twin row of golden buttons running up the front. From the top of the sphere, a woman's body grew, clad in a red Chinese dress, long silver hair flowing down her back, and long arms with pale, almost white, skin extended forward, gently resting upon the lower half of her body, similar ribbons wrapped around the forearms that widened out into the massive hands, each bearing a large ruby surrounded by an intricate golden seal. They head was also very striking, perfectly spherical, with round eyes and a wide jaw filled with sharp teeth. A red mask seemed to sit upon the top half of her face, and a pair of red horns grew from beneath her hair, curving upward and capped with gold.

"Arukenimon…" Liz and Tanya exhaled, while J-Mojyamon cowered. Their partners shifted to cover their human halves, making a small effort to stand between them and the ultimate, Agumon's eyes becoming hard steal, but wavering for a moment as the feeling of being tired and weighted returned briefly.

"Lady…Our Lady…Our Lady…" The Dokugumon and began to chant, their voices resonating as one, until a wave of Arukenimon's hand silenced them.

"Why have you trespassed in our domain…" Her words seemed to drift, spoken softly but projected well enough to fill the massive chamber. "When all know that to enter means to become our prey…"

"Please!" Tanya suddenly cried out. "We didn't come her on purpose…we just dropped here…"

"It's true, J-Mojya! We never meant to trespass, J-Mojya!"

Liz, Agumon, and Lupmon all remained silent. For her part, Lupmon had a sort of bemused look upon her face, taking a sniff of the air every so often; Agumon meanwhile simply faced straight forward, eyes upon Arukenimon, completely focused upon the ultimate level virus. One could mistake Liz for having the same focus, but her shaking was suppressed only by a sheer act of will as she tried desperately to avoid showing any fear. It was then Arukenimon's head titled, focusing upon Liz with her large unblinking eyes.

"Do not try and act…I can feel it…your fear…the shaking of your body…I can feel it through the webs." One long finger was raised to indicate the webbing they stood upon, and the bindings around their bodies. "Every vibration your bodies make is sent through my beautiful webs…They spread through the whole of our forest." A second wave indicated the ceiling the hung over their heads. "And is why we did not immediately devour you upon your capture…I am curious as to how you four suddenly appeared here." Her hand drifted slowly over the two humans and their partners. "None of you have wings… and none of our spotters saw any Digimon fly over our lands…and the shift in pressure from your arrival did not match someone who fell from the sky…it is as if you simply appeared in the forest…" Rather than narrow, her eyes suddenly grew wider as the spider Queen glared down at her captives, her voice suddenly loosing its soft quality, becoming like the scrape of needles upon a chalkboard. "Tell us what power allowed you to do this! Tell me how you came to our lands! What new power have those all consuming monsters of war developed?"

"War?" Liz asked, allowing her partner to maintain focus.

"What's a war?" Lupmon asked, one ear drooping in confusion.

"The war that ravages our world…making prey of all wild Digimon…how can you act as if you do not know it…" Arukenimon resumed her slower pace, but her tone gained not a malicious edge, but an almost pained one, coupled with anger.

"I don get it…" Lupmon sighed.

"W…we don't know…" A small part of Liz inwardly cursed her stuttering. "We're not from your world…we came here by accident."

"Not from…our world?" Arukenimon's head titled to one side, her expression unchanging but the action and a change in her tone gave off an impression of confusion. "I do not…we do not understand…"

"We were…we were…I don't know…" The white clad girl sagged. "We were trying to see this world…and everything was just torn apart…"

Arukenimon's eyes slowly closed, a shuddering breath exited the spider's mouth, seeming to be lost in deep focus before her eyes slid open again.

"You did not lie…Your vibrations did not change…" A sigh of relief escaped from Arukenimon as she placed a hand over where her heart would be. "I am relieved…It has taken much for us to protect our land…"

"What w…w…w…" Tanya tried to speak, but she was shaking too much, the eerie silence that filled the cavern pinned down what little nerve she had left.

"What exactly do you mean…what is the war?" Liz took over.

"It…" Arukenimon froze suddenly, a strong vibration hummed through the web, strong enough to agitate the Dokugumon, who emitted worried clicks.

"J…J-Mojyamon?" Tanya asked worried, looking across at the brown furred Digimon who had begun to shudder violently.

Suddenly flames burst from his back, burning away the webs that bound him and a large pair of orange wings spread out from his back, allowing the mammalian Digimon to fly straight up with a savage cry, on arm seeming to explode as he swung at Arukenimon, who raised an arm to defend, the flaming fist colliding with the ruby embedded on the back of her hand.

"Sorry for cutting you off, but I really couldn't wait anymore, J-Mojya." The altered Digimon's face scrunched up in a sickening smile, fangs bared as the presentation of the meek, terrified jungle dweller vanished to be replaced by an almost psychotic look. His right side, still coated in sticky webbing, suddenly shuddered as something strained against the remaining bonds. "Geh heh, heh…DEATH CLAW!"

The webbing erupted as a black arm, bound in worn and tattered guard cloth burst forth, the long pointed fingers, hardened and sharpened like claws, extended out as the palm thrust towards Arukenimon, who tried again to block with the jewl on her hand, only to wail as it was pierced, the whole of the dark arm ripping through and impaling her through the gut, ceasing her feral, maddened screams to become erratic as they were intruded upon with bouts of choking as her body writhed, J-Mojyamon hoisting her off of the ground. She made efforts to kick at him with her long, metal capped legs, but due to the extreme length of the black arm, she couldn't reach, and settled for clawing at the limb that held her up. The room filled with clicking as the Dokugumon instantly became angered at the attack on their lady, yet were unable to act because of the death-hold she was in.

"Th…That's Devimon's attack!" Tanya gasped, the sudden shock of the attack breaking her terrified stupor for the moment.

"Oh…how observant of you, J-Mojya…" The altered digimon turned, his form as a J-Mojyamon only recognisable now due to the large mass that made up his central body, some hairs becoming singed and burnt around the blazing arm. "It took some work, but I was able to hunt one down and take it, J-Mojya. I got this other arm from a Meramon, these wings from an Ardramon, and those handy little boosters from a Guardromon. And soon I'll be adding your powers to my collection, J-Mojya."

"Fssksssh!" Arukenimon hissed. "You…yousssh are from those…from thoshhh warsh…"

"Keh heh…Yes, J-Mojya. I've been in charge of gathering data for our forces. Hunting wild Digimon has always been the best way, I've found, J-Mojya. No-one would miss you beasts and it's so easy to out-manoeuvre you, J-Mojya. But you, Arukenimon, had to evolve, not only your body but your mind, J-Mojya…You organised the Dokugumon, turning them from solitary hunters into a hive, J-Mojya." J-Mojyamon then turned his eyes down to the four still bound below. "I was planning on letting myself be captured, but meeting you all was a stroke of fortune as I planned to use you as shield in case things went wrong, J-Mojya. I was going to kill you and devour your data, but you've got me curious about this 'other world' business. Uh?"

There was a sudden screech, as if something was tearing through steel and the space around J-Mojyamon suddenly erupted as a swarm of KoDokugumon, the miniature, rookie level copies of the Dokugumon, proceeded to cover the attacker, hissing and giving off tiny clicks of their own as the weight of the onslaught forced J-Mojyamon back, stumbling away from Arukenimon, the Devimon arm sliding free with a sickening 'shlurp' noise as the spider queen crumpled to the floor, breathing heavily.

"This our…nest…here Ko…KoDokugumon raised…" She spoke, her words punctuated by gasps and pants as she sank down to her knees, her damaged hand pressed against the hole in her stomach, while her good one pushed against the webbed surface, supporting her. "Die…filled with poison…"

A sudden burst of misty steam, like breath on a winter's day, escaped from amongst the KoDokugumon as they began to scream and squeal in pain as those visible began to shudder violently, frost appearing on their bodies before they completely froze over with a final gasping screech. The top layer fell away, shattering as they landed and those who were left could be seen to be impaled by long white spikes of ice, the air around them dropping to sub zero temperatures. As the KoDokugumon burst into data, J-Mojyamamon could be seen, the spikes protruding from under his fur, as well as seeming to have ripped holes in his wings and Devimon arm, the red flames of the Mereamon arm now burned with a blue fire, ice spikes protruding from amongst the flames, and the ever changing Digimon cackled as the spikes withdrew slightly, retreating back to a smaller size.

"That was Togemogumon's Crystal Guard, and this…" The burning blue arm swung out to face Arukenimon, palm flat out. "is BlueMeramon's Cold Fire, J-Mojya!" A stream of blue flames exploded from the outstretched hand as Arukenimon countered with her Acid Mist, the acidic spray freezing solid as soon as it met her assailant's attack and she too became lost in the blast, which carried on past her, striking the back of the great web tower and causing it to freeze. As the mist created by the attack faded, Arukenimon could bee seen, frozen into a statue, the expression of her entire body one of pain. "I would have incinerated you, but Meramon's arm would have melted my spikes away, J-Mojya." Taking a few steps forward, he gently caressed the spider queen's frozen face with the long talons of the Devimon hand, before grasping it completely. "Touch of Evil!"

And with that, he crushed her head.

A sudden wail filled the whole of the catacombs as every single Dokugumon wailed in grief. Lupmon bent her head and whined in pain as the high pitched noise assaulted her powerful ears, and Liz saw that the webbing they stood on was beginning to vibrate violently as the spiders began to surge forward. Preservation kicking in, she and Agumon practically body checked the other two, forcing them towards the base of the great column.

"Move!" Liz cried as the Dokugumon began stampeding.

"Yes, yes…come and try and avenge your Lady, J-Mojya." 'J-Mojyamon grinned, taking to the air, wings beating softly as he hovered, savouring the sound of screeches and frantic clicks. "Come and give me your data…your power and skills, J-Mojya…" A calculating look came over his face as the spiders approached, before he threw his arms wide, knowing that he had them in range now.

"Hail Machine Gun, J-Mojya!" The ice spikes on his body began to fire off in all directions, constantly replacing themselves to create a constant, omni directional barrage that quickly began to slaughter the attacking champions as 'J-Mojyamon' laughed like a madman.

At the base of the tower, sheltered by the webbing, Liz, Tanya, Lupmon and Agumon practically cowered as the sound of the one sided battle raged.

"Wh…what the hell is he?" Tanya gasped.

"I don't know…" Agumon grimaced. "I've never heard anything about a Digimon being able to use the attacks of others…"

"Except Apocalymon…but if he is Apocalymon, I doubt he would be using sneaking tactics…" Liz added as she strained at the webbing, with no success.

"We're gonna die…" Tanya moaned. "That guy is…"

"Gonna get it!" Liz interrupted, before cursing as she fell to her back, still struggling. "I've had it with this getting thrown around crap."

"But we can't digivolve…" Lupmon's ears drooped, a great chill filling the air as 'J-Mojyamon' began to unleash his Blue Flame attack.

"Who said anything about that!" Liz yelled. "I'm taking him out one way or another! My brother died saving us from that overgrown bug…I'm not going to be upstaged, I'm not letting his death go to waste! We are getting out of here and I'm going to obliterate that freak!"

"Liz." Agumon spoke in an oddly solemn fashion, no longer feeling tired, but as strong as ever, breaking out into a grin as soon as she was paying attention. "Took you long enough to get back to your senses. Hold still."

With a burst of 'Pepper Breath', Liz's bonds burned away and the dino began to erase the bonds of the others as the blonde girl began climbing the web tower.

"Liz, what are you doing?" Tanya called as her web bindings fell away.

"I told you! I'm going to obliterate that freak!"

Above, 'J-Mojyamon' contined his reign of destruction as the Dokugumon continued to make martyrs of themselves, rushing in again and again only to be obliterated by bursts of 'Blue Flame' and 'Touch of Evil', streams of data continually being absorbed by the psychotic Digimon as Liz climbed around to the enclave in the tower, taking a deep breath to recover from her climb as she took a moment to stretch before cracking her knuckles and taking a few steps back. There was no nervous exhale, no thinking it over, she was pissed and the desire to fight flowed through her veins as she broke into a run, hurling herself from the edge and straight at 'J-Mojyamon's' back crying out a great 'Wauuuuuugh' as she did so, causing her target to turn, eyes widening in surprise as her fist swung down to connect. The attack should have been ineffectual, a human was nothing compared to a being like…whatever sort of Digimon J-Mojyamon actually was, but as Liz buried her fist in his thick fur, a bright orange light erupted from her fist, washing back over her entire body and illuminating the whole chamber as it sent her opponent flying back and down, bouncing off of the webbed surface as she too fell, landing with a grunt of pain but standing tall and proud, and a bit confused as she looked down at her brightly glowing fist, then to the rest of her body, shrouded in the same fantastic orange glow. She recognised the light as the one her avatar carried when Agumon evolved, and that she herself held when they arrived in the game and they attacked TyrantKabuterimon's drones, but this was much brighter and far more intense, even more than the one her brother had used to call on MetalGreymon.

She knew what to do.

Grabbing her digivice from where it sat on her belt, she pulled it out and thrust it forward, a loud beeping began to emit as it reacted to the energy she was emitting.

"AGUMON! LET'S GO!"

"Right!"

Running out, the lizard began to charge as J-Mojyamon got back up and did the same, rushing straight at Liz.

"ULTIMATE," With a loud 'shveen' sound; Liz's digivice seemed to open up, exposing golden circuitry as her power began to flow into it. "EVOLUTION!" A bright light burst forth from the small machine, Agumon became wrapped in an orange light of equal intensity, becoming completely obscured.

"AGUMON DIGIVOLVE TO…"

'J-Mojyamon's' jets roared to life as the Devimon arm drew back, the talons crackling with dark energy as he cried out. "Touch of Evil, J-Mojya!"

"…D-GREYMON!"

As J-Mojyamon swung at Liz, a massive claw blocked, the metal grey talons equalling J-Mojyamon in siz, the long arm linking back to what was definitely a Greymon family body, but unlike anything that had been seen before.

In size, it stood a full half taller than GeoGreymon had, the long grey arm that was currently stretched out, talons grasping the Devimon arm was larger than the other which remained quite similar to GeoGreymon's, save for replacing the bindings with a metal guard, the grey arm was about as long as the beast's massive tail, and upon it's thighs were metal bands seemingly grafted to the scaly skin, similar strips lay upon the tale and torso, and wherever they were, the surrounding scales were turned to the same metal grey of the arm. The helm D-Greymon wore was again grey, and was sleek like WarGreymon's, but ended in a series of jags and points that stuck out back, with a second layer underneath. The side horns too, were angled back a little, and the front horn looked to be more of a long blade in its own right. But it was the wings that commanded the most magnificence, for they were great shining angle wings that bathed the dull cavern in light causing the Dokugumon to shrink back, and all others to at least shield their eyes. With one hand against the helm, Liz stood upon her partner's shoulder, the orange light still surrounding her body, a series and vengeful look on her face.

**D-GREYMON**

**Level:** Ultimate

**Type: Vaccine**

**Attacks: **Cursed Innocence, Cross Fire.

"Oh wow…" Tanya gasped looking up from her digivice. It wasn't just light that filled the cavern, she could practically feel the power of D-Greymon radiating from his shining form, things suddenly seemed a lot less hopeless.

"Cursed…Innocence!" D-Greymon rumbled, a silver flame suddenly erupting at his shoulder and spreading down the grey arm to the talons, causing a sudden blast that caused J-Mojyamon to wail in pain as the whole of the Devimon arm burst into a silver fire and he recoiled as D-Greymon released him, the BlueMeramon arm clinging to it in an effort to cool it, but failing. Still wailing, the monstrous Digimon took flight, launching an upward blast of cold fire before bursting through the now brittle ground.

"Don't let him get away!" Liz cried, prompting D-Greymon to crouch before shooting upward, wings beating as the pair shot up after their opponent with amazing speed for such a large Digimon, breaking through the ground with relative ease as they emerged into the sky, earth and rock tumbling down in their wake.

"Curse you, J-Mojya!" J-Mojyamon spat, clinging to the now disintegrating remains of his arm. "It took me a long time to acquire that arm, J-Mojya."

"Y'know…I don't know who the hell you really are…or how that screwed up power of yours works…But to be quite frank, I don't care." Liz's eyes burned with a cold fire as she glared from her perch, as a rumble emanated from D-Greymon's throat.

"Make your peace." D-Greymon announced, wings opening wide and body hanging straight forming a mimicry of a cross.

"So it's going to be that way, J-Mojya." J-Mojyamon grumbled, lifting the BlueMeramon arm as the Devimon arm shattered, swiftly replaced by one made of solid ice, rising up to join the other. "This is one of my original attacks, J-Mojya!" The air between his hands began to rapidly drop in temperature as wind swirled and began to form a large boulder of ice, bathed in blue flames and surrounded in sharp icy wind. "TUNDRA FORCE, J-MOJYA!"

Silver flames suddenly burst around D-Greymon's wings, the whole of the sacred beast's body began to shine with a bright light, jaw opening wide to reveal perfectly white sharp teeth, flames swirling before it, drawing fire from the wings to form a burning sphere.

"May you find mercy in the afterlife, for there is none here for you." Liz glowered, the orange aura that surrounded her looked akin to a great flame.

"CROSS FIRE!" D-Greymon roared, just as J-Mojyamon hurled his frozen sphere, D-Greymon's shining flame rocketing forward, releasing it's own roar as it did, as if it were breaking the sound barrier, the stream of light that billowed out from it looked like a pair of wings and the two inevitably collided, causing a massive explosion, the force of which disturbed the trees and wreckage below as a large cloud of mist and smoke settled in the air.

'They'll try and launch a sneak attack through the mist, J-Mojya.' J-Mojyamon thought as he pushed higher. 'But they can't see me either, and I won't be staying in one place, J-Mojya. When they come through, I'll blast them, J-Mojya!' As he rose, J-Mojyamon began to form a new Tundra Force, constantly scanning the large cloud for a sign of D-Greymon and partner, eye moving in reaction as a section stirred unnaturally. 'There, J-Mojya!'

Readying his throw, J-Mojyamon froze as only Liz burst out from the smoke, surrounded in her aura; she resembled a rocket as a grin formed on her face, digivice in hand.

"Gotcha." Her grin seemed almost manic.

"Cursed Innocence!" Exploding out from below J-Mojyamon, D-Greymon rose rapidly up from the cloud, wings beating and seemingly aided by a jet of silver fire, grey arm reached back and bathed in the same flames as the sacred beast raced up at J-Mojyamon, the opponent unable to change direction to try and counter with his attack, only to try and turn out of the way by firing one of the Guardromon jets as D-Greymon raked the talons through his body, shattering many of the ice spikes and mauling his body, the normal arm snatching Liz from the air as her light poured into the digivice, J-Mojyamon letting out a strangled, gurgling cry.

"Finish him!" Liz screamed, her light pouring into her digivice, causing the silver flames that burst around D-Greymon's wings to grow in intensity, making them looking much larger and flecked with streaks of orange.

"CROSS FIRE!" D-Greymon roared, summoning the fire ball and unleashing it, J-Mojyamon barely screaming before being bathed in holy fire, the blast carrying on until it impacted with the far off river with a large 'Phoom', spraying and evaporating water and tearing up earth and rock. The sky cleared of the brilliant light, leaving it clear.

"We…we got…" Liz began to say, before her eyes drooped uncontrollably and she passed out. D-Greymon too began to sag and lowered down to the forest below, becoming engulfed in light as they reached the tree line and Liz and the small pink ball with ridiculous ears that was a Koromon dropped unceremoniously to the ground and lay quite still.

"Liz!" Tanya cried, before slipping and almost falling back down into the deep cavern, but was caught by Lupmon who pulled her up to the surface, the two running over to their unconscious comrades as Tanya checked Liz's pulse as best she knew, and Lupmon sniffed at Koromon.

"She's okay." Tanya sighed in relief.

"Koromon is okay too!" Lupmon beamed, picking up the little pink ball.

"Courseamallrigh…" Liz gave a cross between a moan and a yawn. She tried to lift herself off the ground, but she found herself barely able to move.

Tears dribbled down Tanya's face as she clung tightly to Liz's limp body, burying her face into Liz's shoulder as she began to sob.

"I…I was so scared…I thought you were going to die…I could…I couldn'n…"

"Shh…" Liz tried to soothe, her head rolling back to rest against Tanya's, the only way she could presently provide physical comfort in her current exhausted state. "I told you…this isn't the time to cry…we've gotta keep moving…don't know if the Dokugumon will come after us…" She tried again to rise, but her muscles all burned and had no strength to give her. "Help me up…" Sniffing, Tanya nodded and hauled Liz up, but staggered as she tried to support the blonde girl. "Scrawny geek thing ain'tcha…" Liz gave a tired smile, and Tanya responded in kind. "You carry Koromon…Lupmon, give me a hand…"

As the Dokugumon fell into a chaotic frenzy below, terrified and confused, the girls began to walk off into the jungle, Lupmon carrying Liz upon her back while Tanya carried Koromon in her arms, following Liz's suggestion to follow the river.

"J-Mojyamon hinted at civilisation existing…towns are built by water…we follow it, we'll find…something…" Liz's head spun as she tried to think.

"What do you think will happen to the Dokugumon?" Tanya asked, sniffing as she recovered from her crying.

"Too tired to care…" Liz groaned, regretting it when she saw Tanya's face sag.

"They'll survive…" Koromon caught everyone's attention, the pink blobs eyes remained closed as it spoke nestled in Tanya's arms. "Arukenimon showed them how…wild things always find a way to survive bumps like this…"

Tanya gave a small nod, while Liz gave an irritated gurgle.

"Y'know, you were pretty cool up there." Tanya smiled.

"Praise me later…I feel terrible…I want to sleep…" Liz moaned, before butting her jaw on Lupmon's head as the wolf made a small hop.

"Praise me all you like." Koromon yawned. "It'll give me good dreams."

"Ass." Liz murmured, while Tanya and Lupmon chuckled.

---

Further down the river, ice began to pop up in small floats, drifting away on the current before an arm of blue flame burst up from the water and the fingers upon the hand dug into the bank before being joined by one of solid ice and the torn apart form of J-Mojyamon hauled himself from the water. By all rights, he should be dead. The brown mass that made up body and head was practically obliterated, and data poured from the wounds that almost split it into four different pieces, D-Greymon had torn straight through, and it was made worse thanks to the final Cross Fire, data poured form every limb and the Digimon looked to be barely holding together, before it did collapse with a primal scream, shattering into thousands of shards of data before reforming and looking completely different.

The legs were those of a Garurumon, back legs to be precise, the white fur with blue streaks and pink claws upon the paws looked a little distorted to suit their new role as bipedal legs, they attached to the midsection of a Greymon's body, the long tail swishing irritably as the red exoskeleton arm of a Kuwagumon formed in place of the right arm, and a well muscled arm latched to a large metallic cannon formed the right. While the jaw as definitely that of a Greymon, the rest of the head was covered in the helm of the insect type Kabuterimon. The Airdramon wings had collapsed, but were replaced by the great red and orange feathered wings of a Birdramon, and backed up by a similar black set taken from a Sabredramon.

"GRAAAAA!" The reformed Digimon roared. "I have never been so humiliated! My beautiful limbs destroyed! My spikes, my Devimon arm! I will make them suffer for this!"

"Oh c'mon. At least you aren't saying 'J-Mojya' at the end of every sentence, it was driving me nuts."

Turning to face the river, the Digimon grimaced at the figure before him. She was short and had odd green skin, her rather unflatteringly shaped body was clad in a two toned swimming outfit, her odd sized hands wearing similar coloured gloves, and what seemed to be a spiralling swim cap on her head, red gems that matched her eyes decorated her outfit and the fins on her hips and ears fluttered as she grinned at him.

"I'm not in the mood Ranamon." The Digimon grumbled, turning away again and walking off into the woods. "I'm going to go finish those Dokugumon and then hunt down that blasted Sacred Digimon."

"Oh no you don't!" Ranamon called out, running across the water and leaping onto the large Digimon's head, causing him to growl in anger, attempting to swat her, swapping arms out and around in his efforts but was unable to catch the slippery rookie. "I've got new orders for you!"

With a grumble, the Digimon lowered his arms reverting back to Kuwagumon exoskeleton and Gorillamon cannon arms. "What is it then?"

Leaning in, Ranamon whispered into the ear-hole on the Kabuterimon helm, before hoping back off and landing on the water, pirouetting as she did.

"Feh…doesn't sound bad." The Digimon grunted.

"Thought you might like it." Ranamon smirked.

"And what will you be doing, Ranamon?" Khimeramon rumbled.

"Oh you know, this and that."

Laughing, the strange frog like Digimon danced off along the river water, before diving into it and swimming away. Watching her go, the Digimon snorted before turning and leaving himself. He could have, and probably should have, told Ranamon about those strange beings, from another world…but he didn't want any of the others taking a look until he had settled his score.

Oh no. It simply wouldn't do.

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**Raven:**We have returned from the depths of oblivion and parts unknown, stronger than ever before! And I'm pretty sure we'd be wearing cool capes too.

This chapter has some of my favorite characters in it (with exception to one we're gonna be introducing later). We were originally going to give Liz the VictoryGreymon line (I didn't even realize he had a line until Chad mentioned it), however, Keyo had a new idea for a custom line, and D-Greymon was born. Kudos bars if you can figure out how we got the name. I love how he works, especially with the wings. Greymon just don't get real wings, ya know?

As for J-Mojyamon, that was Keyo's genius at work. Our original idea was to have RiseGreymon defeat Arukenimon. But then Keyo had a stroke of genius and we started working during these past few weeks on revamping our ideas to display more interesting battles. Man, I never thought killing off a character would change the way we looked at fights. Anyway, he's gonna be perhaps one of our best villains, especially for a villain we haven't made ourselves. I hope you enjoy his insanity.

**Keyo:** Ahhh…feels good to be back. Should have been back last week actually, but I couldn't get my groove on, so I decided to make my comeback this week. Well, what to say…

This chapter marks the changing point for a lot of things, as Raven mentioned. The change for opponent originated from CrazyEight saying in his review that they could 'probably reason with Arukenimon.' Despite Arukenimon being a mostly feral Digimon, Arukenimon could still probably be talked to. So something else was needed, and thus 'that Digimon' was born. A full explanation of his abilities and origin will become clear later, though where I got the idea from shouldn't be too hard to work out.

Liz gets to see the start of some of her major development here. Tanya is very soft and scared, and Lupmon is very childish and oblivious, so despite the pain she's feeling, she's got to be strong, and she won't hold back on her ideals of justice, combined with her violent attitude, it's little surprise she goes all Masaru to get the strength to evolve Agumon to the ultimate level. (Dear sweet Batman, D-Greymon is awesome. Tanya's still very scared, and very poor sighted.)

I'm very glad to have this Ranamon here. She's such a cutie. I really like Ranamon's design and am going to enjoy having her around.

Join us next week as we make trails into the desert.

Until next time,

**Keyo & Raven**


	31. Chapter 31

**Keyo: **Sincere apologies for our lateness, I had some trouble with this chapter and it cost us a day. Please, if this inspires you to commit hideous murder, direct it all towards those working at 4Kids. As ever we only own the shirts on our backs.

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TIME - NIGHT OF THE EXPANSION LAUNCH

"Vinnie! Are you still playing?"

Feet placed within the warm bunny slippers, Lisa Frankson called out to her nephew, a large bowel of popcorn, freshly popped in the microwave, and smelling just a little bad. "We're going to watch a movie and I made popcorn…I didn't burn it too badly this time!" Frowning, the Aunt and mother of two wondered why her nephew wasn't responding, he rarely got so carried away that he forgot the world around him, but he had said they were doing something big tonight, so she proceeded to go up the stairs and knock on his door. "Vinnie?" With no response, she opened the door up to reveal an empty room. "Vincent?"

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**Chapter 31 – **Sandstorm!

Sand, Cells, Sorrow and more bugs!

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TIME - PRESENT, NIGHT AFTER EXPANSION LAUNCH

Deserts are an interesting place. During the day they are ridiculously hot and insufferable, and at night, they are insanely cold and equally insufferable. For Robert Bobby' Bradford, the second fact was not one he had been entirely aware of, and after walking and complaining of the scorching heat all day to his companions, he now lay, teeth clattering, upon the sand, curled up as close to his Digimon partner as possible, (and finding not too much warmth), and was failing to sleep, and would occasionally voice this fact.

"Just try and sleep Sephy." A tired voice returned, equally disturbed by shuddering breaths as the owner pulled his tattered cloak closer to his body in an effort to conserve warmth. "I'm meant to be waking you up in two hours to take over watch, and that will be a lot easier to do if you're actually asleep."

Grumbling something along the lines of don't call me Sephy', the boy shuffled as he tried to get comfortable on the cold sand as his companion sighed, scanning the mass of darkness that made up the horizon, what little light the pale moons gave allowing only the most minimal of visibility. Closing his eyes, Bobby ran through the events of the day. The game had gone crazy and the next thing he knew he was really there, the awesomeness of the situation totally ruined by the destruction and chaos surrounding him and the fact that a giant bug had been out to kill him and everyone else. And then that storm came, and he was getting pulled through the air, Bulletmon had tried to catch him, but just wound up getting pulled along as well. Komodomon called out to them, and he and his partner reached out to grab hold of them. He remembered seizing hold of Komodomon's claw, and Cait seizing the red Digimon before he fell out. It felt like forever that the hung there, and then there was the flash of light…

And he woke up in the desert.

Beyond that, there wasn't much…Cait and Komodomon were there too, and he decided to wait until they woke up before doing anything, never admitting to himself or Bulletmon that it was because he had no idea of what to do. When his effective superior officers woke up…well…they argued a bit, and eventually Sephy relented to his decision to move towards the patch of green in the distance. Sure it was the best, and only idea…but… With a sigh, he gave up the train of thought. He'd only argued for the sake of it really…had they even talked at all? They didn't discuss what had happened beyond, Bobby being too stubborn to ask and Cait…well, he didn't know what the lieutenant colonel and his partner were thinking…he didn't even know Cait's real name.

Muttering a small feh', he preceded curl up. It wasn't as if he cared.

I am so friggin' cold right now.' Vincent thought, rubbing at his arms to try and keep the blood flowing. Rising, he began to pace. As the temperature lowers, your body will draw heat away from the limbs and extremities in order to maintain the core body temperature.' He mentally recited, recalling what he could of biology classes he hadn't nearly dozed off in. Fabulous construct but it doesn't make me feel any better.'

Pausing, he silently cussed the small snoring noises coming from beneath the sand. Taking advantage of having leveled his digging skill up to 5, Komodomon had buried himself in order to keep warm. Bastard.' Looking down at Bobby's quivering form, Vincent sagged as he felt the sight tug at his heartstrings. Despite his best efforts, he was really just a big softie, something he largely blamed his little cousins for. Removing his cloak, he draped it over Bobby's form, before turning and resuming his pacing, taking a moment to look up at the three moons hanging in the sky and allowing a single thought to pass through his mind.

Great now I'm really friggin' cold.'

On the sand, beneath the cloak, Bobby gave a disgruntled look, before curling up under the cloak, warm from being on his companion's body, and eventually drifted off to sleep.

---

"Oh dear sweetness! I never thought I'd be glad to be out in this sweltering sun!"

"You're far too happy…" Komodomon glared daggers at his partner as they walked through the desert once more, the morning sun blazing high in the sky and turning the once frigid sands into a blazing sea of heat, as they once more moved, thirsty and hungry. "It's so dry…"

"Aren't lizards meant to be good in the desert?" Bobby didn't bother turning his head, too busy trying to combine walking, sweating, trying to keep cool and, he supposed, dying. And with the way his voice was all scratchy from being so dry he just plain didn't enjoy talking.

"Do a little research." The red Digimon gave a small smirk. "My name comes from Komodo Dragons', they're large lizards which live on tropical islands. _Humid_, tropical islands. Y'know…hot and_wet!_" The smirk dissolved into a scowl as Komodomon proceeded to kick at the sand in frustration.

"Hey Bulletmon…aren't you melting under that armour?" Bobby mustered the concentration to turn an eye to his own partner.

"Oh, should I be Kaiser?" Bulletmon turned, completely undisturbed by the heat.

Just what the hell are you?' Ran through the collective minds of the three, while My, the sky is certainly very blue' were Bulletmon's thoughts.

Looking over at his cloaked companion as he began to banter and joke with Komodomon (and confusing Bulletmon) Bobby's eyes narrowed as he thought of how the Lieutenant-Colonel had draped the cloak over him in the middle of the night. It had certainly helped him fall asleep and keep warm, but still…

"I'm not a kid you know…" He practically muttered.

"You say something Sephy?"

Stopping in his tracks, Bobby proceeded to ball up his fists.

"I'M NOT A KID YOU KNOW!" Bobby proceeded to yell, regretting it, as he wound up coughing due to how dry his throat was. "And my name isn't Sephy!"

"Oh? Then what is it?" The cloaked youth turned, his voice sincere enough to irritate Bobby worse than if he had been snide or sarcastic, and was also enough to take him back for a few moments, forcing him to regain his composure before speaking again.

"It's…"

"OY!"

The conversation was broken as a new voice intruded. Approaching was a figure clad in a large, weather beaten cloak, hunched over slightly, a large lump upon his back seemed to be weighing him down. As the figure approached a face could be seen through the hood of the cloak, a flat white mask adorned with two horns jutting out as supposed decoration with purple marks running under his eye holes and the well known tear drop styled emblem of the crest of sincerity lay in between the horns. Reaching around, the figure removed the lump and held it close to its chest. Upon speaking, it was evidently masculine.

"Please…can you spare any water? My student needs help."

"Sorry, I've been chewing on a bit of my belt all morning." Vincent opened his mouth and pointed to the chunk of leather, Komodomon doing the same.

"What…why?" Bobby sort of coughed. "And how are you so coherent?"

"Chewing helps you salivate so our mouths don't dry out so bad." Komodomon explained.

"And practice." Vincent added.

"Why have you had practice?" Bobby raised an eyebrow at the older boy, before shifting to annoyance. "And why didn't you offer me some?"

"You really wanted to chew on some of my belt?" Vincent returned.

"Uh…excuse me…?" The masked figure intruded on the conversation.

"Sorry." The four apologized, despite Bulletmon's non-participation.

Lifting his hand, which bore a large wooden guard, the man shifted back the hood of his cloak, revealing a shock of spiky red hair and blue skin upon his neck, and long, blue, tattered ears running out from under the hair.

"I apologize for imposing…we got lost, I only hoped that maybe you were fully equipped for traversing the desert. We were separated from our caravan and…"

**YASYAMON**

**Level: Champion**

**Type: Vaccine**

**Attacks: **Double Strike, Double Arm Guard, Puppet Master.

"I knew it!" Bobby cheered, his digivice drawn and a projected image of the sword wielding Digimon.

"Wh…what is he doing?" Yasyamon asked.

"Being himself." Komodomon replied, with a kind of cheer that caused Bobby to cry out Hey'.

"I…see…" Yasyamon looked…well, no one could tell. "As I was saying, my student and I became separate from our caravan and have been wandering since, we ran out of water two days ago and he is less equipped to handle the desert heat. My name is Yasyamon, and this lump is my student, Kotemon."

Bobby raised his hand to try and scan the prone Digimon's form, but Vincent stepped in and discreetly pushed it down.

"My name is Vincent, and this is my partner Komodomon, and they are Bulletmon and Seph…"

"Robert." Bobby interrupted, gracing Vincent with something of a glare, which intensified as it was effectively ignored.

---

Time passed and the group walked in silence, save for the occasional cough or grunt, the fact that a large sandstorm had whipped up and covered the area was probably part of the reason. Vincent had passed his bandanna to Komodomon to help stop him from inhaling sand, and Bobby had pulled his tee shirt up over his mouth and goggles lowered over his eyes. Throats were parched and Bobby had indeed taken to chewing upon a piece of Vincent's belt in order to salivate, Yasyamon too, though no one saw him move his mask. Submitting to simply following behind the taller party members, Bobby let his mind wander. The fact that there were three moons in the sky last night confirmed they were in another world, and that Yasyamon had appeared confirmed it was the digital world, and the way his back was hurting and he was roasting in the heat confirmed that he wasn't dreaming. If he wasn't so drained by the heat and dehydration, he would be excited at the prospect of being in the digital world, but the wear of traversing the desert left him with little more energy than for a grin.

"You seem happier Kaizer." Bulletmon looked to his partner, once again causing faces to sag as a twinge of jealously struck all at Bulletmon's apparent ease of handling the oppressive conditions.

"Hey look." Vincent suddenly croaked, pointing to a shape out amongst the swirling sands. "A giant cactus!"

"Maybe it's friendly!" Komodomon added, before coughing almost violently.

"Maybe it's a mirage…" Bobby added, before he also succumbed to violent fit of coughs.

"In any case, it's better than nothing." Yasyamon called.

"We can use it as a windbreaker, c'mon." Vincent led on.

Trudging on, the group pushed on against the wind, Vincent eventually seizing onto Bobby's shoulder and keeping him close as the boy began to stumble and threatened to become lost within the sandstorm. Eventually they were able to get close enough to discover that it was indeed a giant cactus, reaching up several stories in the air with needles that looked to be of decent enough size to repel siege weaponry. Nestling in one of the grooves on the cactus' body, the group breathed a collective sigh of relief as they received some level of shielding from the harsh winds and sand, the sigh promptly turning into a string of coughs due to dry mouths and too much sand, before they collapsed in an exhausted pile, resting back against the solid body of their savior plant.

And then they found themselves falling backwards.

Lying in a collapsed heap there was much groaning and efforts to tell each other to get off as they struggled to untangle themselves from one another, only to stop when a large number of stingers were thrust in their faces. Surrounding them all were, save for their lack of a third pair of limbs, insect like beings clad in yellow armour adorned with black stripes. The helmets they wore were knight like, with a flat, smooth face shield titled up to reveal round blue faces with large black eyes, a second red stinger protruding from the back. Insect wings buzzed in irritation and possibly fear as those nearest thrust their large, bee-like abdomens towards the group, threatening them with the black stingers upon the end, they jumped slightly as Bobby's digivice switched on.

**Honeybeemon**

**Level: Champion**

**Type: Data**

**Attacks:** Sweet Spray, Paralyse Sting.

"D…don't move!" The nervous tone in the bee like digimon's voice was more effective than a threat as fear of them being stinger happy, or even worse, jumpy. Slowly stretching out, the group did the best they could to hold still and look as non-threatening as possible.

"Parley?" Komodomon ventured, an effort at a friendly grin upon his face as the bandanna slipped down to rest about his neck.

---

"I think this is a jail cell." Komodomon rasped.

"What was your first clue?" Bobby rolled his eyes.

The group sat divided in a pair of small rooms, they had been led at stinger point down through slanted corridors, each ending in a sharp turn as they worked their way in a zigzag fashion. They moved past great vats filled with a sweet smelling liquid, and all around them Honeybeemon moved, as well as clusters of other bee like digimon, assumed to be rookie level, all of whom would take time to stare at the prisoners before returning to work. Lower and lower down until reaching the golden room that currently held them. It bore a kind of stale, sweet smell and was filled with rows of small rooms, each accessible through a hexagonal door way, the pattern continuing in the hexagonal tiles that covered the cells and the chamber itself. Once in, they had been secured to the ground with a sticky golden substance, which had been poured on their ankles and had set to become as hard as steel, and the group found all but the clothes they wore taken from them. Divided up, Vincent, Bobby, and Komodomon sat in one cell, while Bulletmon, Yasyamon and Kotemon (for none of the insect type Digimon had been bold enough to try and separate master and student) sat in the other, fixed the ground and staring out through the hard clear sheet covering their portals at each other. The clear sheets were thick and unless they shouted, one group had no chance of communicating with another.

"Is Kotemon all right?" Bulletmon asked his cellmate, looking at the bundle that composed the rookie Digimon, still held tightly in Yasyamon's arms.

"No. He's growing hotter and his breathing is getting shallower." Yasyamon sighed.

Silence came to reign, as all throats were too dry, and all bellies too empty to try and establish conversation. Thinking became easier, however, as the cells were nice and cool, but slowly the group began to nod off to sleep in order to try and recover from the drain the absence of food and water had inflicted upon them, even Bulletmon's eyes faded away into the black of his visor slit eventually. The sleep was uncomfortable and in cases fitful, but it was welcome as none had slept well outside in the desert and they were in silence until there came a shfffing' sound as the clear screens that formed the fourth wall upon their cells slid away, and all were rudely shaken awake. As Yasyamon awoke, he did so apparently slowly, one eye opening to half lid to give a glare at their captors, who promptly gave a small cry of eeek' before buzzing and propelling themselves back out of the cell, their sudden retreat prompting a similar reaction from the ones in the cell opposite. With a tired sigh, a Honeybeemon, apparently older than the rest, made rather blatant in the long white beard that fell from his chin, stepped forward to stand directly in between the two cells.

"I dislike playing games," The old bee glanced from cell to cell, taking a look at each of the in-mates in turn. "I warn you, if you have come here for the honey, we are under the rule of TyrantKabuterimon, and he will unleash swift punishment on those who try and take it. Speak now!"

There was…an effort. But all that was produced was coughs, gasps, and wheezes as the group found that in their sleep, they had been robbed of their ability to communicate, and for those who had witnessed the battle two days before, there was a definite amount of importance here, but only one could muster any words.

"Water…" Yasyamon rasped, his gold eyes blazing. "Now!"

With a sudden scampering, all but the elderly Honeybeemon fled the room, leaving the elder to sigh at the meekness of the younger. The sound of scampering soon returned and the bee like Digimon returned with black dishes carved from the spines of the cactus, each filled to the brim with water. The dishes were passed to the captives who gratefully drank down the sweet tasting water, Kotemon stirring as Yasyamon helped his exhausted body to drink down his dish of water, before using his own to cool his student's overheated boy, pouring it through the slits on his kendo mask, and having him drink more, before laying him down on the cell floor to allow him to bask in the cool air of the cell as best he could within the padded Kendo gear, soft sighs escaping his mask as he began to recover. Looking to the small remains of water in his bowl, Yasyamon tipped it to the bee like Digimon, before tilting it under his own mask and drinking its contents.

"Phwooo!" Komodomon's face broke into a wide grin. "Water never tasted so sweet!"

"The water was sweet." Vincent sighed.

"That's probably why." Komodomon relished in soothing effect the water had had upon his throat.

Bobby, Vincent and the elder bee sighed at the remark as Komodomon chuckled to himself, while the other Honeybeemon huddled together, trying their best to look intimidating towards their captives. The scenario likely would have had the desired effect if it hadn't been made clear that Yasyamon, bound and disarmed as he was, scared them so badly.

"Tell me now," The Elder resumed. "Why are you here?"

Bobby opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Vincent, who did his best to look humble, adopting a pose similar to the reserved one Yasyamon sat in.

"We were lost in the sandstorm, we saw the cactus and hoped to be able to take shelter until the winds passed, we did not know that it was occupied."

The Elder fixed Vincent with a hard stare that left Vincent feeling a little unnerved. It was clear there was a core of steel to this old bug, unlike those almost cowering behind him. It was clear that he was processing what he had been told, and whether he should believe it or not.

"Thank you." Yasyamon suddenly spoke up, his voice raspier than the others, having had less to drink. "For the water. My student will thank you too, for saving his life, when he awakes."

The Elder looked down to the sleeping form of Kotemon, something that seemed to soften the eyes of the old insect as he turned and began to walk towards the chamber's exit.

"When the storm passes, we will let you leave. But should Lord TyrantKabuterimon return, you will be at his lack of mercy."

"Did your TyrantKabuterimon have a laugh that went Ghijijijijiji'?" Komodomon suddenly asked, and at the imitation of the laugh, the bee like Digimon, elder included, shuddered.

"To have met him and survived… You are a rare thing indeed." The Elder did not turn as he spoke, and once again began to move towards the chamber's exit. "Perhaps you may be able to cross the desert after…"

"He's dead." Bobby interrupted sharply.

"What?" The Elder turned, pushing through the younger to glare sharply at Bobby. "TyrantKabuterimon is a powerful digimon who…who does not tolerate slander towards his name." The elder seemed careful on choosing his words, as if fearing the purple monstrosity would appear behind him at any moment.

For a few moments, Bobby's lips flapped as he tried to find words to carry on from his outburst, but found the negotiations had been taken over by his effective superior officer.

"Two days ago, a TyrantKabuterimon appeared in our home and engaged a soldier from my unit, a WarGreymon, in battle, the contest resulted in their mutual destruction." To his credit, Vincent kept his tone composed. "The battle resulted in myself and my…companions becoming lost in the desert."

"You came from the sky?" The Elder's eye's widened, as murmurings spread through the others. "Two days ago… The sky split open, and we could hear the sounds of battle and many digimon from the desert attempted to flee through it. TyrantKabuterimon pursued and vanished into the rift, and it closed in a flash some time later."

"So are you gonna…" Bobby was silenced as Vincent gave him a small nudge.

"How…how can we tell…if you are telling us the truth?" The Elder asked, as if daring to hope.

"I cannot provide tangible proof. I was too far to hear anything exchanged in the battle, but was able to witness the explosive force behind his Shine of Bee attack, and his ability to regenerate. He was destroyed when my sub…when my friend was able to corner him and give up all of his life to inflict the finishing blow."

There was a moment of silence, and the elder turned and resumed walking towards the exit, head hung, his claw like fingers running through his beard as he seemed lost in thought.

"Hey, you gonna…" Bobby was once more silenced, with a small huff, a Vincent gave him a slightly harder nudge.

"I will discuss this matter with the Queen, I will inform you of our conclusions."

"Can we have more water?" Bobby piped up, before receiving a rather brutal dig to the ribs from Vincent. "Ow!… Please?" Another blow. "Ow! Alright already…"

With the same piston sound as before, the clear sheets slid in place and two of the digimon took guard posts, somewhat reluctantly, at the chamber's entranceway, leaving the prisoners to one another.

"Why'd ya have to keep nudging me?" Bobby whirled on the older boy.

"Because you kept shooting your mouth off." Vincent explained as calmly as possible, leaning back against the wall of their cell, looking very tired all of a sudden. "And it can put us in danger."

"They're hardly dangerous…they're a nervous bunch of…"

"That makes them even more dangerous." Vincent fixed the younger boy with a hard look. "They're terrified of TyrantKabuterimon, and know he could do horrible things to them. We're horribly out numbered and even beyond that they could throw us back out into that sandstorm. When you cried out that TyrantKabuterimon was dead you put us in a tight spot."

"But it was the truth!" Bobby snapped.

"So? Just because it is the truth doesn't mean they'll believe it. And you didn't even know if the one Richard and Agumon…" Vincent's voice faltered for a moment. "…Is the same as the one who rules over them. False hope can break someone's heart." The cloaked youth shuffled, wishing he could stretch his legs, but eventually settled and looked set to doze.

"So now what? You're just gonna fall asleep?"

"Yup." Komodomon added, his eyelids drooping too."

"We should be busting out of here!" Bobby cried.

"We can't. We don't have the energy, or the power. Our best option is negotiation, and in lieu of being able to eat, I'd like to get some more sleep to be at my best for when they come back. I suggest you do the same. Or at least be quiet and let us sleep."

With a grunt, Bobby gave up and watched as the partners dozed off, becoming more disgruntled when, looking across to the other cell, that the rest of their troupe had taken up the same course of action and had once again allowed sleep to creep over them.

Within a secure chamber, the Elder, hands behind his back, walked with a nervous gait. He was alone, and paused only a moment to light the torches that lined the walls. As the chamber became lit, there came a sound of rattling chains as something stirred in the darkness.

"Your Majesty." The Elder bowed.

"Please…leave the lights dim…I do not wish to see myself…" The voice sounded weary, and sore, and the Elder sagged as he heard it. The Queen was always tired, always in pain, he was the only one who dared risk the wrath of TyrantKabuterimon to come see here, and it was the pain and fear that surrounded the monarch that gave him the spine the others lacked. Stepping onto the balcony he looked down into the gloom where his hive's queen was bound.

"I know, my Queen. I apologize for disturbing your rest, but I have a matter I need to discus with you."

"What is it, Elder?" The voice was definitely female, though the exhaustion in the voice made it hard to discern age.

"We have found a group of travelers, they claim that TyrantKabuterimon, when he crossed through the hole in the sky, was slain in battle."

A shuddering breath came before the Queen spoke.

"Dare we…dare we hope they speak the truth?" The waver in her voice was noticeable, as if she were battling keeping her emotions calm.

"Those who reach the heights of a Mega are rare…and in all the stories I have heard from when we were still free and entertained travelers and merchants, I have never heard of there being two the same." The Elder stroked his beard in a nervous fashion. "And it seems they came from the hole in the sky, and while all saw TyrantKabuterimon rise up through it, when it closed, there was no sign of him."

"So…" The shuddering breath came again. "So it may very well be true."

"Elder! Elder!"

There was no rush of steps, but yells echoed down the corridor. They dared not enter the torch lit chamber, and the Elder sighed. What sort of people refused to look upon their own queen?

"Forgive me your majesty, I will return soon."

"Be at peace, Elder."

His clawed feet clacking along the ground, the Elder exited into the main network of the hive, where many of the other Honeybeemon waited.

"What is it?" The Elder asked, clearly annoyed at the disturbance. If he had been called away because one of the prisoners had looked at the guards funny then so help him…

"There is a pair of very angry Digimon in the hive! They blew away the door and are demanding to see the prisoners!" The guard cried, flustered.

Muttering to himself, the Elder trudged through the hive, passing by the now thoroughly agitated Honeybeemon. It was likely some confused and bewildered travelers, again. The residents of the hive had a knack for blowing everything out of proportion, they were so used to living in absolute fear of the brutal beetle lord that they found any outsider to be a terrifying threat. Most likely he'd wind up handling this the way he handled the others. Stick them in the cells to calm everyone else down, and then kick them out when the storm passed.

"Alright, alright, I'm here. Now what is this all…" The elder froze as he suddenly found himself face to face with a pair of missiles, each still held secure (for the moment) within their launchers, with angry faces drawn on the warheads. Looking up, he found himself staring at a pair of armoured helms being a single horn to the front and massive armoured ears stretching back, the only difference being that one was green, while the other was black.

"Give us Yasyamon!" They commanded in unison.

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Raven: **Anybody have a Mist Archfiend for trade?

Yeah, I'm that out of ideas for an intro to my notes. Anyway, I really like this chapter, because it shows a bit more of TyrantKabuterimon. He wasn't just a random Mega for a big fight; he was a despotic ruler who left behind a kingdom of fearful subjects. We also, very briefly, got to introduce one of two new antagonists that will be a rather large pain for a couple chapters. Hope you enjoy his very brief screen time in this chappie, he will be here longer in the next.

Kudos bars to Mist for figuring out D-Greymon's name. Truth be told, when I suggested the name to Keyo, I didn't even realize the connection to D. Grey-man until I took a step back and saw it. Keyo and I have been having a couple of talks on justice, and the letter "D" has popped it's head up a few times (mostly due to the D-Heroes of Yu-Gi-Oh) So, after hearing Keyo talk about reshaping Greymon to have a claw similar to Allen Walker's from D. Grey-man, I just shot out that name.

Merry whatever day you read this to you. May all the stuff you get be stuff you actually want.

**Keyo:** Y'know, I really hated writing this chapter…so much detail to work in and the fact that I still don't have a working 'h' key meant typing 'Honeybeemon' was a pain. I also wanted to avoid repeating a lot of the things that were said in regards to the situation and the change of appearance. The fact that Cait and Sephy, aka, Vincent and Bobby, don't get along kind of helped with that. I'm rather annoyed I can't dramatically reveal the identities of everyone, but there's not much I can do about it. Kudos to all who worked out Vincent was Cait, you may take your Kudos from people who thought Vincent was Eight.

The cactus in this chapter forms two references, one is to the original season of Digimon where they find a giant cactus out in the desert, and the second is to avatar, where I got Komodomon's 'Maybe it's friendly' line from…although there it was a mushroom…but they were still in a desert.

And now I'll say Merry Christmas before signing off, as well as Merry whatever else there is, and just in case of a temporal anomaly which causes the Santa Bot of Futurama to attack this time period, I didn't do it.

As a matter of fact...we were updated on time. But a temporal anomaly meant you all never noticed.

Until next time.

**Keyo & Rave**


	32. Chapter 32

**Keyo:**Through the art of time travel I give you yesterday's update today! And due to the power of lawyers, I also tell you that I do not own digimon!

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**Chapter 32: **Sandstorm! Pt2

Among the wails of the storm, his sword shall sing.

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"Urgh…Oh…yes?" Vincent moaned. He'd been dreaming and it was fairly pleasant. He'd been wondering around through…well…it was all fuzzy and he was forgetting it now…in any case, it had been peaceful and pleasant (a little grey he suspected) and it had all ended suddenly when Liz (he never saw who it was, but he had a feeling it had been her) smacked him in the back of the head, and then he awoke.

"Hey Vincent, are you awake?" Bobby asked, sounding suspiciously innocent. He had been roused from his own slumber as the sound of buzzing was only just able to breach their sound resistant cell, causing him to twitch and stir and now awake, he was curious as to what was causing the commotion, for there was certainly a commotion as the guards kept buzzing their wings and looking desperately between the cells and the way back up to the hive, as if unsure whether they should stay, go and see what's going on, or run like hell.

Touching at his head, which was suffering from a far too realistic pain, Vincent narrowed his eyes at the boy for a moment as he responded.

"I am…_now._" Bobby squirmed under the emphasis.

"I think something's bothering the bees." He proceeded to point, keeping the subject away from his cellmate's head.

Looking out through the clear pane, Vincent took note of the agitated insect types and his eyes narrowed in worry. A good few adventuring quests had contained a 'you wake up in jail' scenario, and he knew well enough that if the guards began to freak out, it meant that you were likely to run into someone who was at _least_ mid-boss level.

"Hey Komodomon, are you…" Vincent paused and sighed as he noted how his partner was snoring in a rather obvious fashion, and proceeded to nudge him.

"Mffhrrmem…" The red lizard responded.

"Wake up." Vincent gave a harder nudge and his partner reluctantly opened his eyes.

"I was enjoyin' that." He gently rasped, proceeding to chew gently on his tongue to try and salivate. "You got anymore belt on you? I think I ate my last piece."

"I think there's trouble." Vincent motioned across to the bees as Bobby had done and Komodomon looked, taking a moment to note how the others in the opposing cell were doing the same now.

"Oh yeah…that's trouble." Komodomon nodded sagely as more Honeybeemon poured in through the doorway. "Oooh…gonna be at least a mid-boss."

Both the clear doors opened up the inmates found themselves looking up at their normally shorter captors, who looked to be in an all new state of terror that over road their fear of their current prisoners.

"Wh…which of you is Yasyamon?" The Honeybeemon who was shaking the least barked.

Bobby felt himself clamp up, he could just point out that the tall blue one in the mask was Yasyamon, but he didn't know where that would get them, only that the Honeybeemon were very agitated and if they got Yasyamon, maybe they'd leave. But that could place Yasyamon in danger…they hadn't known the masked Digimon very long, but it would be very much like selling him out…and if he was put in danger he just…not agai…

"We're not saying." Vincent spoke with an impressive degree of calmness, Bobby missing how the teen dug his nails into his palms in order to try and force it. "Until you tell us what this is about."

"We don't have time for this! _They're_ gonna kill us all if we don't get him, so just bring all of them."

The others seemed to agree with this as several moved forward and quickly instigated some kind of chemical reaction to metal away their bonds, ushering them up and along before they had a chance to nurse their sore ankles or adjust to being upright again.

"Didn't think it would work that fast." Vincent gave a shaky grin as he whispered to Komodomon, who returned an almost identical expression.

"Careful." Yasyamon steadied his student as Kotemon faltered, the yellow glow of his eyes seemed lidded within the blue padded kendo mask he wore, and he nudged at it sleepily, trying to rub salt from his eyes with a claw covered with an oversized sleeve, his arm poking out from under his own cloak.

Can we get our stuff back?" Bobby asked, a spike of his usual impudent boldness coming through, before one of the Honeybeemon shunted him. "Ow!"

'Geeze…' He thought. 'Can't anyone just say 'no' anymore?'

---

"We're getting impatient Old Bug!" The armoured Digimon bellowed, cannons still pointed at the Elder, while their other arms pointed equally irritable looking missiles at the other residents of the hive, who cowered away, clinging to one another, not daring to move, a life under TyrantKabuterimon had taught them to just huddle and be afraid, just as it had worked a hide of leather into the Elder, who stood, grim set, staring up at these new interlopers.

'Has all the world become mad?' The Elder thought quietly, nursing a wrath that had been born the day that despicable purple fiend had come and forced them all under his dominion. 'Full of tyrants and cowards?'

He sighed heavily as the prisoners were ushered into the entrance way.

Were he and the Queen truly the only ones with any will left in them? And old fool and a tortured soul?

When first dragged through, none had been able to take a proper look at the hive they had been so exhausted and bewildered, and now they were focused on what was coming to them, or rather, they were going to. However, they were able to take in the grandeur of the entrance hall, the great rings that lined the wall to act as a balcony, turning the gold plated area into something of an amphitheatre, a feeling enhanced as the balconies was filled with a literal buzzing as a great number of Honeybeemon and the rookie Flybeemon filled the rows, gazing down at the armoured intruders and the Elder, the unevenly matched gladiators in this contest.

'Of course.' Vincent reflected. 'Gladiators tended to only die in these fights if the sponsor could pay for it.' He wasn't sure if this was a comforting thought or not, because it either worked as a fine metaphor that they were very likely to walk out of this all alive, or an equally fine metaphor that they were all going to die horribly while some goik wearing a plant on his head applauded. 'I'm starting to think like Eight…I must have heat-stroke.'

'Woah…Rapidmon and BlackRapidmon.' Bobby gawked as they were led up to the missile wielding digimon, his habit of scanning every digimon he met gave him a small twitch, which he largely missed and promptly ignored out of pride, having believed it to be a shiver of fear and went with a childish refusal not to look like he was scared, despite the fact he was half hiding behind Vincent and Yasyamon and Kotemon (the small reptile having awoken some more now) could see his knees knock as they came to a stop.

"W…we didn't know which was Y…Yasyamon…so we brought them all." One of the Honeybeemon stuttered, had they been still in the game, all would have executed the sweatdrop command as the bee was rather definitely hiding behind the prisoners as he spoke. With a sigh, Rapidmon slapped the Elder aside, sending the old bee skidding across the floor, before returning it to join BlackRapidmon in aiming straight at the prisoners.

"Black?" Rapidmon turned to his partner, speaking for the first time alone.

"Green?" BlackRapidmon returned.

"Do you remember what they Yasyamon looked like?" Green asked with a tilt of his helmeted head.

"Well…he had two arms…two legs…a head…and fingers…and a cloak." Black answered, drawing in the arm that was pointed to the terrified crowds and seemed to try and scratch at his head as he thought, missile still primed.

"So it's one of those three!" Green cried, without actually doing anything physically to indicate the ones he was talking about, but the bees seemed to get the message and pulled back everyone save for Vincent, Yasyamon and Kotemon, the entire group having one thought passing through their minds.

'But they/we look nothing alike!'

"So how do we tell which one is Yasyamon?" Black tilted his head.

"We could just kill them all?" Green responded, mimicking his partner's tilt.

"Nah, Lucemon wants him alive for interrogation." Black shrugged.

For the moment when Rapidmon, or 'Green', mentioned killing, Vincent tensed, and was now battling to keep control of his breathing, this was all so far removed from talking down bullies and negotiating scripted scenarios. His heart was pounding far more heavily than any of the problems he Komodomon had landed in within the game. 'Is it selfish…to be this afraid for my own life?'

"Grademon did say that he was the protective type." Green's eyes narrowed with suggestive malice.

"Good idea." Black narrowed his in response.

"RAPID FIRE!" The pair cried, releasing the disgruntled rockets from their launchers, sending them flying directly towards the terrified crowds who, rather than run, merely cowered harder, and in a flash¸ Yasyamon's hands flew out from under his cloak, held forward, his fingers twitching for a moment, each hand pointed out towards the two missles.

"Puppet Master!" The swordsman growled, slamming his arms down and across his abdomen, the rockets suddenly turning away from the crowds and arcing around. As they flew, Yasyamon's eyes narrowed in concentration as his fingers twitched in rapid patterns, too fast to follow before the missiles slammed into one another, exploding overhead.

"So you are…" Green began as the smoke began to settle.

"…Yasyamon." Black finished as the two became visable.

"I never quite obtained mastery of body control, but I have found this technique useful for deflecting attacks." The masked digimon explained, letting his hands fall back under his cloak, his voice was completely calm, and would have sparked a sense of envy within many of those present, if they weren't so reassured by it.

"If you come with us…" Green focused his eyes upon Yasyamon as the two adjusted their aim upon the red haired digimon.

"…there won't be any trouble." Black finished as the pair reloaded their empty arms.

"Vincent, take care of Kotemon." The warrior whispered, patting a hand on the young man's shoulder, his eyes continually facing forward, but for a moment, Vincent felt his body stop quivering, vanishing as soon as the masked warrior lifted his hand. "Get out of here and keep going towards the mountains Kotemon will show you the way."

To his student he passed only a look, which seemed to convey a lot of meaning for the short moment that their eyes met, as the Kendo garbed reptile type bowed his head, the inside of his mask going black for a moment as his eyes closed, before the yellow orbs appeared again as he watched his maser walk towards the pair of rocket wielding rabbits.

"Yasyamon…" Bobby practically breathed the word, a feeling of helplessness and anger welling up in his gut, just like before, and there was that horrendous selfishness again involved, this time because he felt glad that he was soon to be out of danger, glad that Yasyamon was getting them out of it.

"STOP!" Thought it wasn't an immediate feeling, he was glad that he had been thrust back into.

Striding forward, a bundling in his arms, as well as Yasyamon's wooden swords and Kotemon's bokken strapped to his back, the Elder Honeybeemon stepped forward, his eyes full of a righteous fury, the same fury that had been building up under years of subjugation and abuse, and that was now bursting forth.

"No more…I will not allow my people to be harassed and terrorised anymore…I sill not cower before bullies anymore!"

"E…Elder! What are you doing! They're going to take him and _leave!_" One of the Honeybeemon hissed.

"And what will change?" The Elder glared back. "I'm tired of being trampled upon."

"But if TyrantKabuterimo…"

"I don't care!" The Elder roared. "That fiend is gone, and rather than free our queen and leave, we sit terrified awaiting his return. Running would be greater than to sit and cower before nothing. I can't take anymore!" With a surprising show of strength, the Elder hurled the wooden swords through the air towards Yasyamon, the blades spinning as the old bee gave a great cry of 'GO!'

"Brave old bug." The Rapidmon pair seemed to grin, before launching their 'Rapid Missle' attack in unison, straight at the Elder.

Who was pulled forward sharply, escaping impact, the explosion following behind his impromptu flight.

"Puppet Master!" Yasyamon called as his near invisible threads latched onto the Elder and pull him to safety, his other hand commanding strings to draw in his airborne blades to fly into his hand, catching the elder with the other.

"Sir, if it is your will that I fight…" The warrior began.

"It is sir." The Elder responded, panting slightly as he righted himself.

"Very well."

With a nod, Yasyamon turned to face his armoured opponents, slipping the wooden swords from the thread that bound them, shifting them into each hand and adopting a combat stance, blades raised, left had at a flatter angle than right, and left foot forward. "I, Yasyamon, Captain of the Serenity Lord's Sharp Company, shall be your opponent." The white masked swordsman narrowed his eyes, his entire manner changing from one of cool control, to a killing aura.

"Then come 'Captain' …" Green's eyes narrowed.

"…and join the rest of your company in the afterlife!" Black finished.

"MIRACLE MISSLE!"

With that, they two missile bunnies launched a barrage of smaller munitions from the grey missile packs on their backs, the projectiles flew out at a flat angle, before curving and swarming straight for Yasyamon, with little concern for any damage it would cause to those around him. At least as fast as the missiles though, Yasyamon swept his arms up, crossing his blades before him, before slashing them back out, fanning out his cloak and exposing his lean body wrapped in a top of green chains, the air before him wavering.

"Double Strike!"

Before him, the missiles suddenly began to curve back out, colliding with those unaffected by the blue warrior's attack, causing a great wall of flames that hid each side from the other, and Green and Black suddenly burst through the flames arms drawn back to deliver an explosive punch, only to find their fists slamming into an empty cloak.

"Single-Stroke in Two…" Yasyamon's voice, still in the same even pace, but filled with a burning passion, filtered in from above, causing the armoured warriors to turn upon instinct, looking up to the source of the voice. "Double Strike!"

Swinging down, the wooden swords slammed into the face of Green, the burst of telekinetic energy caused the armour around the gunner's eye to crumple inward, the shock causing him to cry out, as well as the ridges of his armour cutting into his face. Throwing his arm back, Yasyamon looped his sword into the blue stuffed doll that sat upon his back, pulling out the thread necessary for his 'Puppet Master' attack, using the force of his own attack to rebound and gain upward momentum before swinging the remarkably strong wires looping them around Blacks's incoming 'fist', changing the course of the blow to strike instead into Green's face, sending him flying as Yasyamon swung around on Black's arm, slamming one clawed foot into the round armour of his opponent's chest, the claws digging into the small ridge that ran along the middle, before pushing practically running up the dark armoured gunner's body, leaping over his shoulder and coming to balance upon the revolver barrel like launcher's on Black's back, the Puppet Master threads severing their hold on the arm before Yasyamon seized them anew with his second blade, looping the threads through the gap between Black's helm and chest-plate, slipping through to push against the flesh hidden beneath.

"Even at the ultimate level, you still need to breathe." Yasyamon hissed in Black's ear as the virus type began to choke and gurgle, trying desperately to grab at the warrior, or to pull at the strings, only to find that his lack of digits prevented him from grasping at either as his eyes began to roll up, not in threat of unconsciousnes, but to deliver a smug look over his shoulder at Yasyamon. Yasyamon met those eyes for a moment, before realising their meaning, looking up just in time to see Green release a flurry of 'Miracle Missles', the shots arcing around to strike from behind, negating Yasyamon's chance to use black as a shield, as no matter what advantage he currently possessed, he could not force the ultimate to move, to intercept the shots. Releasing his hold, he propelled himself backward, Black gasped as air flooded into his body, before the missiles impacted with one another close enough to send him skidding back across to his partner.

"Are you okay, Black?" Green asked, not even glancing to his viral partner.

"Just fine, Green." Black responded, rising to stand by his vaccine type partner.

"RAPID FIRE!" The pair cried, swinging both of their arms forward, the angry missiles flew forward towards Yasyamon as he recovered from his leap, and he began to run toward them, throwing his swords spinning forward and pulling out his threads.

"Puppet Master!" He called, snaring control of the missiles and pulling them around to change direction as he leapt by them, turning them to point back at their origin point, as a cry of 'Miracle Missles' went up and the long eared pair released wall of miniature missiles. With no space or time to manoeuvre, Yasyamon was forced to rush right behind his captured missiles towards the oncoming flurry, with a quick motion of his fingers he severed three of the missiles from his control, allowing them to cruise forward of their own discretion, commanding the remaining missile to arc upwards, pulling him from the ground and into the air to sail right over the explosion, before swinging the missile back down to plough into a very surprised BlackRapidmon. "OPEN THE DOOR!" He cried as he sent Black skidding backwards while he darted along after, snatching his swords as they hurtled back down.

"Dude…" Komodomon gaped, strapping back on his bracers.

"I know." Vincent replied hurriedly as he struggled to get his belt on, the various pouches jangling and bashing against his side as he fought with it.

"I mean…against the two of them…dude!" Komodomon rambled.

"Yes, he's awesome, but we've got to help because I don't know how long he'll be able to keep this up." Vincent pull up his digivice. "Ready Rob?"

**RAPIDMON**

**LEVEL: Ultimate**

**TYPE: Vaccine**

**ATTACKS: Rapid Fire, Miracle Missile, Tri-Beam.**

"Bobby!" Vincent snapped his subordinate out of his scanning habit.

"Sorry." The boy snapped into attention. "Let's go Bulletmon!"

"Yes sir!" Bulletmon responded, shifting into a combat stance, gun barrels raised.

"They aren't paying any attention to us though." Komodomon pointed out as Rapidmon took flight, flames bursting out from his feet and back pack as he flew out into the sandstorm in pursuit of his partner and Yasyamon.

---

"You can't hide!" Black called into the roaring sand. "I'm fully equipped with radar, even if I can't see you, I can find you!"

This was a bit of a gambit, because while Black was fully capable of tracking targets via the radar system in his ear plates, he was totally unable to see anything but a great fuzz thanks to the sandstorm, Yasyamon had hidden himself very effectively. But that didn't mean Black didn't have other methods to deal with the swordsman, it could mean revealing the falsehood of his radar claim, but it was liable to work.

"Miracle Missle!"

The blossom of projectiles swarmed out as Black began to spin, unleashing a barrage in 360, certain to tear up whatever got in the way, and without any stolen missiles to use, Yasyamon wouldn't be able to defend himself, and the explosions would at least help create a more definite sonar image of the area amongst the chaos of the storm, giving him a brief picture of more shapely fuzzes within the general fuzz.

"Now where are…EUUUUAAAAGHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Chips and chunks of metal flew in the air as Black screamed in pain as a colossal needle slammed into the upper part of his torso, angled enough to exit from his gut, pinning him to the ground. A column of data sprayed up into the air and out against the ground as Black tried to pull the needle from his body, butt as before when he tried to escape Yasyamon's effort at garrotting, he found that even with the triad of spikes upon his arms, he couldn't gain any purchase upon the needle. With a look of purest anger and hate, Black glared up at the top of the needle, for it had been cleanly cut from its previous position from upon the cactus, and atop it, stood Yasyamon.

"Clever, hrk, bastard!" Black almost seemed to be smiling within his helm as his pupils began to dilate almost erratically as Yasyamon lowered one of his blades to point between the BlackRapidmon's eyes.

"Do you yield?" The Captain of the Sharp Company offered.

"Kraharaha!" Black laughed. "As if."

Their approach completely hidden by the roar of the sand storm, Yasyamon barely became aware of Green's attack in time to throw himself from the needle, the miracle missile attacks tore apart the wide base of the needle, granting Green a good enough sonar image of the area, allowing him to home in on the moving fuzzy blur and slam it in the gut. With a feral cry, he swung Yasyamon around to face back at the Cactus, firing off the warhead and sending the warrior hurtling through the roaring sands. With a great deal of effort, Yasyamon was able to force the missile off of his chest and up, sending it crashing into the body of the cactus and leaving him to fall and bounce his way through the hive's entrance, eventually slamming against the far wall. Hauling himself back up, he swung his two swords up into position and unleashed Double Strike in time to once again deflect the incoming Miracle Missile attack, sending the assault into the surrounding walls and showering him with rubble, forcing him down under the load as he struggled to rise again, before throwing himself aside and rolling to avoid another wave of Miracle Missile attack, using his swords to spring himself back up onto his feet, before meeting a new barrage from Green's launcher's as he swung again and again, Yasyamon's evasions becoming less and less agile and eventually being clubbed around.

"He's slowing down…" Bobby looked on, knees shaking.

"He hasn't eaten in days and has had the least to drink of all of us, he can't fight exhaustion anymore. Let's go Komodomon!" Vincent called, pulling out his digivice. "DIGIVOLUTION!"

"Komodomon digivolve to…Drake-ormaybe not…" The Lizard stared at his unchanged hands as absolutely nothing happened. No glow, no lights, no swirling, collapsing and rebuilding, and becoming at least 6.6ft of kick ass…nothing.

"Lemmee…Digivolution!" Bobby tried.

"I'm afraid your efforts are for naught, Kaiser..." Bulletmon bowed apologetically to his partner.

"Wh…what do we do now then!" Bobby stood terrified, looking back and forward between each of his companions, as Vincent stood, eyes fixed upon the brawl, his whole body shaking.

"Vincent." Komodomon snatched his partner's arm. "Let's go."

Taking a look back at Bobby, Vincent snapped his eyes back to the fight and inhaled.

"Yah. Bobby! Sit tight and try and get those bees to be useful!" Vincent clipped his digivice back in placeand turned to Kotemon. "Can I please borrow your shinai?"

"No." Kotemon responded, speaking for the first time, the light tone of his voice marking him as being about as old as Bobby. "Because I need to use it." A tired grin appeared on Vincent's face as he turned to face at Yasyamon and Green, and rolled his shoulders. "Ugh…this is incredibly stupid. Let's go!"

And with that, the three ran forward.

"Slash Ripper!" Komodomon cried, whipping himself up into his spinning frenzy.

"Hot Head!" Kotemon roared, his shinai becoming engulfed in red hot flames.

"Raaargh!" Vincent yelled, fist drawn back.

All three were swatted aside with ease.

And Yasyamon, with his now broken blades, stabbed Green in the eye and broke away as the armoured gunner screamed out.

"Not my best plan." Komodomon groaned from his place on the ground.

"Pathetic insects, learn your place!" Green snarled. "I will tear you all apart and fill the void in Black's chest! Miracle Missile!"

"MOVE!" Several people cried as they followed their own advice and scrambled to try and avoid the attack, Yasyamon snatching Bulletmon, Komodomon and Kotemon, holding one under each arm and pulling his apprentice by his collar and leaping back towards Green to escape the missiles as Bobby froze up, Vincent diving at him and pushing the boy back. They had no hope to escape the explosion, despite the teen's efforts, and as the blast thundered in their ears, Vincent screamed in pain as the flames blew his cloak up over his head and burned away at his back and legs as they flew through the air, pulling together enough strength as the explosion pushed them out, to turn his back to the ground as he and Bobby crashed down, pulling a fresh cry of pain as they slammed down, a rather nasty crack sound ringing out from the back of Vincent's head.

"Wh…wh…" Bobby stammered, looking at the partial crater where they had once been standing, the digimon promptly scattering as they continued, rather unsuccessfully, to take on Green.

"Didn think ah cou do tha…" Vincent moaned, stunned and concussed. "Fasser than ah thought…"

"What…Vincent!" Bobby turned, only now realising the he was lying atop the boy.

"Ya okay…ah!" Vincent stopped to gasp as the pain in his back began to register itself more prominently.

"Sorry!" Bobby exclaimed, crawling off. "Wh…why'd you do that I mean…we…I…"

"Scary huh?" Vincent tried to sit up, only to hiss in pain, giving ujp, he instead rolled onto his side. "I'm no good at this leader shish…I'm terrified…I can't think…But…are you alright?"

"Yeah…" Bobby looked down, beginning to feel guilty.

"Then I did sommin' right." Vincent sighed as his eyes drooped closed. "Fine a way outta this…'kay?" Vincent was able to ask before completely fading into darkness.

"Vincent…Oi...Vincent! Kitty Cait!" Bobby tried shaking the teen, receiving no response. "Idiot…" The boy sniffed back tears, he'd be wasting water. "C'mon…get up! I'm sorry I'm a jerk…I…Get up!" Bobby now yelled, slapping the teen and getting no reaction. An explosion going off, he looked back to see Bulletmon and the others crashing against the ground as Green slammed a missile into the ground, the tiled floor tearing up and throwing the through the air.

"Bulletmon!" Bobby found himself moving forward as his partner lay prone, missiles falling from the sky as Green went to obliterate the beaten down digimon with a final Miracle Missile, as a green light exploded around Bobby, flowing into his digivice which responded with a loud beeping before the casing split open, revealing the golden circuitry boards within, words tore out from the boys mouth on some hidden impulse.

"ULTIMATE EVOLUTION!"

"BULLETMON DIGIVOLVE TO…"

The light grew around the armoured digimon, growing to a massive size as it came to shield all of those who lay under the threat of the raining missiles which exploded against the light harmlessly.

"…PANZERMON!!!"

Giant. Monster. Mecha.

Towering up at least three stories, Panzermon stood upon four armoured legs, each bearing tank treads upon their undersides, the armour plates bearing jungle camouflage colouring, and looking to be at least a foot thick. The torso was similarly armoured with the plates and supported a pair of massive cannons which looked to be in a dormant mode, pointing straight up and adding about another half story to the digimon's height. The arms bore massive long shields, which were raised up to deflect the missile rain, and covered the whole of the arm, and any hands that existed were hidden within the large guns, layered one atop the other to run along the inner curve of the shield, and looking to be tank gun versions of machine guns. The head was potentially monstrous enough to compete with Greymon, but only lower jaw and it's long, serrated, metallic teeth could be seen, the rest was hidden beneath a massive helm which bore a great resemblance to a tank gun, complete with gun barrel in place of nose, a gap on the left hand side revealed a single, angry looking red eye, while the right was covered by what looked like the end of a sniper scope. And within the shade of this great beast stood Bobby, still covered in a furious green glow, and quivering, hands balled into fists, the boy glared up at Rapidmon.

"I, Private Robert Bradford," The boy fought to keep an even tone.

"And I, Private Panzermon," Panzermon spoke in a voice more akin to a roar, so unlike his other forms.

"Shall be your opponents!" The two cried as one.

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**Raven:**So last chapter we finally had made enough chapters to warrant a scroll bar in the chapter select.

When Keyo told me the gist of Yasyamon's fighting (taking on two Rapidmons at once), I asked him, "What, is this guy some kind of Bruce T. Norris?" We wanted him to be pretty hard, but I didn't expect him to be THAT hard. But when you read the chapter, you see just how hard he actually is.

And then there's Panzermon, who was our second hardest form to make for Bulletmon. Unlike his Rookie, where we had no idea whatsoever on where to start, we at least had a general idea how Panzermon was shaped. Fortunately, Keyo, genius that he is, made him look just plain awesome. Random tidbit, we were originally going to name his Ultimate Howitzmon, but after I tossed this name around, Keyo asked if it was okay to keep it. I'm very happy to see Panzermon is not just a mobile artily platform, but he's also a very sturdy shield as well, with those shield-arms attatched. (Random tidbit #2: The word "Panzer" is German for "Armor". Told you I liked my German words)

**Keyo:**_Captain_, Bruce T. Norris. Now to explain why.

It came up when Eight performed his proof read that Yasyamon, a champion, seemed to be faster than Rapidmon, digimon known for their speed. The thing is, not one of his own attacks does any real damage, and he's never faster, only more nimble. Rapidmon seem designed, to me, to get from point A to point B fast, and then blow point C up with a missile barrage, they move on jets, giving them great movement in straight lines, but there's been no indication of great speed in other areas. We do get to see Rapidmon exploit this speed when he starts laying into Yasyamon at the end though. Yasyamon is also a captain of a group with a rather nifty pop culture reference, they're trained to be ridiculously hard.

Howitzmon was abandoned after it pointed out (can't remember by who) that a Howitzer was a cannon, rather than a tank, which was part of the emphasis for Panzermon's design, and Panzers were the top of the line tanks for the Nazi's in WWII. Probably explains why he's still Virus type…

Originally, we were meant to get to see Panzermon and Rapidmon fight in this chapter, but I ran out of energy having spent all day Saturday trying to write this up, and we're still running behind schedule…le sigh…

Maybe next week will be better?

Take care!

**Keyo & Raven**


	33. Chapter 33

**Keyo:**So we're actually ahead this week! Big it up! Now…I was going to say something…but I forget what.

But I haven't forgotten that Digimon is the property of Bandai! Enjoy the chapter!

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**Chapter 33: **Sandstorm! Pt3

As the rough road explodes in flames, he will take his first steps to becoming a man.

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**PANZERMON**

**LEVEL: Ultimate**

**TYPE: Virus**

**ATTACKS: **Zweihowitz, Panzer Kastel, Geschossable, Big Bertha.

"To evolve just like that…What the hell are you?" Rapidmon hovered in the air, too shocked to attack as he gazed on at his new foe. "You…You are one of those freaks like _it_. Some perverted trick to quickly gain power!" New missiles slid into place in the launchers, their angry faces perfectly matching their wielder's voice.

"I'm getting the feeling that we're missing a chunk of back story…" Komodomon groaned as he lay flat on his back, too worn down to clutch at the parts of his body that hurt the most.

"This has become an all new type of personal." Rapidmon growled. "Burn away!"

In sequence, he fired off Miracle Missile and Rapid Fire, sending the missiles flying down, hoping to incinerate Panzermon and those sheltering beneath his him.

"Panzer Kastel!" Panzermon called, the armour on his legs seeming to extend, turning his lower half into an armoured shell while the shields on his arm folding out to create cull on shielding for the side of his body, circular shields folding out upon the cannons on his back to shield his rear, while extra armour seemed to drop down upon his body, sliding out from his collar to grow out as chitin plates down his torso. Manoeuvrability was almost completely sacrificed, but the armour improvements provided an apparent total defence as Rapidmon's assault drummed seemingly ineffectively against Panzermon's solid body. Within the solid dome, Yasyamon sat up, the darkness of their surroundings illuminated only by the green light that surrounded Bobby.

"Truly amazing…How did you do this?" The swordsman asked, slipping the remains of his swords into the belt loops that acted as their sheaths.

"I'm…I'm not too sure…" Bobby admitted, still staring forward at Panzermon's solid defensive wall. "I've never evolved Bulletmon this far before…I feel all tingly and…ow!" Bobby clapped a hand to his face as a sudden pain ran through it, followed by other spots as he felt as if someone was punching him across his body.

Outside, Panzermon growled as the occasional shot slipped past his guard, striking against his body, though with his increased armour it wasn't enough yet to tear through, it still stung as the metal plates practically rang with each blow that made it through the shields as Rapidmon circled around, raining fire upon him. Able to turn a full 360, Panzermon followed his movements as best he could, but with Panzer Kastel active, he couldn't aim his guns separately, and the extra armour was slowing him down.

"Kaiser!" A voice boomed within the shielded dome, sounding somewhat like Bulletmon's normal childish voice, but with a monstrous growl playing over it. "I can't hit him like this, he's too fast! I need to stop using Kastel to have a chance, but then I can't protect you."

Biting at his lip, Bobby thought of the burns that ravaged Vincent's now motionless body and felt his heart freeze up as his mind cast up visions of pain upon his own body, restarting his heart with a vicious shiver up his spine. But then he thought of how the teen had shielded him, how Panzermon was shielding them now. What if he attacked the bees? What if he killed Panzermon because he was unable to fight back…

"Change to attack!" Bobby cried.

"Wise choice." Yasyamon now helped Kotemon and Komodomon to their feet.

With a loud clanking, the extra defences of Panzer Kastel withdrew, revealing the group clustered beneath the towering Digimon. Deciding not to try and tangle with the still formidably armoured form of Panzermon, Rapidmon unleashed his Miracle Missles with the intention of wiping out those sheltering beneath, just as Panzermon, with a surprising degree of speed, swung out one of his arms, the triple gun barrels rotating.

"Geschossable!" The mixed toned voice cried as a loud 'brakkabrakka' nosie thundered through the hive as he opened fire with the colossal machine guns, the shots tearing into the missile barrage and either ripping through the missiles or creating enough of a chain reaction to clear away the rest, only 5 made it through and those were caught upon the now reduced shields, Bobby ignoring the dull thuds he felt upon his arms. Unfortunately, a good few shots slipped by Rapidmon as well, and tore apart the wall behind him.

'We…we can't fight here!' Bobby began to panic as he looked around at the Honeybeemon, who were now screaming and panicking, justifiable as there was now a gun battle engaging between two engines of destruction inside of their home. "Panzermon! We've got to get outside!" The boy called to his partner.

"Right Kaizer!" The large digimon cried in response, suddenly bending it's four great legs as if preparing to jump.

"Hey, wait…hang on…" Bobby began, but too late as Panzermon sprung forward, straight for Rapidmon, who fired up his jets and swept sideways, avoiding the potential body check as the air howled around Panzermon's very non-aerodynamic form before being replaced by a ripping and breaking noise as the weighty digimon collided with the hive's wall and crashed straight through, allowing the howling winds and the sand they carried to begin spraying into the hive.

"Crazy freak…" Rapidmon growled before flying through the gap in pursuit.

"Panzermon!" Bobby cried, following the flying rabbit out into the storm.

Once outside, Rapidmon took to the sky, keeping well up in the air. Visibility was still zero and even with Panzermon's size, it was hard to pick him out with the radar due to both the storm and his close proximity to the giant Cactus. Priming his weapons, Rapidmon kept a focus on his radar. In order for Panzermon to have a chance of finding him, he'd have to open fire and try for hit and miss, and as soon as he did, he'd light up on the radar and Rapidmon could move around and rain fire down upon him until even his Panzer Kastel crumbled.

Running out, and pulling his goggles down over his eyes, Bobby was able to easily find his partner by running straight into one of his legs, collapsing flat on his back with a moan as Panzermon let out a similar one. Rising, Bobby proceeded to brace himself behind one of the large armoured legs, using it as a shield against the whipping sands.

"Where is he Panzermon?" Bobby called, the response seeming to once again echo from the air around him.

"He's in the sky." Panzermon's projected voice was in as quiet a tone as he could manage. "I can't get a lock on him, and if I open fire, he'll find us."

"Then he finds us!" Bobby growled. "Vincent was willing to risk everything for us so we've got to do the same!"

"Right Kaizer!" Panzermon responded enthusiastically, beginning his 360 rotation as he opened fire with Geschossable, keeping the cactus to his back he rained shots all over, sending the massive rounds flying up into the air and out into the desert, the spent cartridges slamming into the sands, the eruptions lit up on Rapidmon's radar, clearly marking out the fortress type digimon as a shuddering patch within the fuzz caused by the storm as the first shots flew off too far to the left and too far down. Grinning beneath his helm, Rapidmon began his aerial patterns and his counter assault.

"Miracle Missile!"

---

"C'mon Vinnie." Komodomon grumbled, heaving his partner off of the ground, slinging one arm over his shoulders as he then proceeded to drag the teen's body along the floor, the height difference notable. "Too bloody tall." The lizard muttered, before the teen was pulled up as the much taller Yasyamon took the weight instead.

"How is he?" Kotemon asked as he dragged himself over.

"Still here." Komodomon grinned with a little strain as the group moved along with the surge of bees to try and find shelter from the sand and wind as they all filed into the spacious work area, some of the Honeybeemon hovered up in the air, others perched around on the vats and rafters, while the rest filled the floor space.

"Elder, see what you've done!" One of the bees yelled as similar cries began, it was pretty obvious that the massive hole in the wall was part of the problem.

"I don't care!" The Elder barked. "As far as I'm concerned this entire hive can burn to the ground, even you all! How can you stand by as your own Queen is tormented! None of you will even dare speak of her or enter her chambers!"

An embarrassed silence swept over the bees, as the Elder gave angered nods. Not satisfied, but rather vindicated, as he seemed to glare across at all of the hives inhabitants.

"Take me to her." The weight of command in Yasyamon's voice caught everyone's attention, making it a clear reminder that he was a Military man who could give orders, which would be obeyed. "Now."

The Elder smiled as no-one argued, and the sea of digimon parted.

---

Panzermon and Rapidmon had yet to catch sight of one another as they fought, sand exploded upward to join the storm as Rapidmon's stray missiles struck the desert floor, while the swirling pattern of sand was disturbed by the rain of bullets from the Geschossable. And Bobby's scream was drowned out by the age old sound of battle at the sound of gunfire and explosions, the boy clinging tightly to the available grips that existed on the inside of Panzermon's leg as the large armoured digimon soared through the air, propelled by another mighty leap before hurtling back down to the ground to crash down on the sand, once again opening fire with Geschossable, while Bobby fought to get his breath back, and what parts of his mind remained cognitive were largely wondering what in the world possessed him to think clinging to Panzermon had been a good idea.

"Are you alright Kaizer?" Panzermon's voice boomed from the apparent nether. In truth, the boy's whole body ached as if he was the one getting pummelled, and he was starting to feel very tired, it seemed the only thing keeping his grip tight was the paralysing effect of abject terror. Just as Bobby managed to get his jaw loose enough to speak, an explosion rattled the ultimate's body as a 'Rapid Fire' missile ploughed into one of the shields. "Hold on! Look's like we're gonna have to juump!" Panzermon's voice warbled on 'jump' as he made good on the threat and once more crouched and launched himself through the air, the only way the large digimon could travel quickly. Had Eight Ball been there to observe, he would have drawn parables to the movements of a knight on a Chessboard, able to move in great jumps, covering a limited distance without any finesse and with limitations, but able to negate problems in terrain and gain sudden advantage in positioning. But he wasn't here and Panzermon was more or less leaping around and shooting at roughly where the missiles were coming from, while Rapidmon tracked the shudders of gunfire and the 'thumps' of Panzermon's landing via radar, striking at the landing points as the great digimon recovered, the more agile air borne vaccine constantly moving in the air, keeping from becoming an easy target as most every single shot sailed past the fast moving gun-bunny. Only twice had he taken a hit from the munitions, and the large dents would be easily visible upon the green bulb of armour that shielded his pelvic area, but beyond that there had only been a few near misses as Panzermon struggled to strike. But the difference in their abilities was becoming very apparent, as Rapidmon realised that should he be caught in a stream from the massive machine guns, he'd easily be torn apart, while it was taking a long time to break down Panzermon's armour, especially since those shields of his seemed to keep getting in the way.

'But, patience is the uncelebrated virtue.' Rapidmon reflected, firing off another Rapid Fire. 'As his Lordship is so fond of saying.'

---

Before the dark corridor, the Honeybeemon and Fanbeemon stopped moving, allowing the Elder and the outsiders to pass on through, turning, the Elder released a glare which carried more volume than the loudest of yells, and the worker bees got the hint, and began to follow the others in.

"Elder…?" The tired female voice creaked out from the shadows.

"It is I…It is all of us, your majesty." The Elder responded, stepping the edge of the darkness. Something stirred within and many felt uncomfortable, but all stayed. It was the first time they had heard their Queen's voice in years, and it pulled on just the right parts of their heart to remind them of their loyalty to her, and life before TyrantKabuterimon.

"A…All of you…?" There came the sound of rattling chains and a varying of clicks as the Queenbeemon leaned forward, coming herself to the fringes of the dark shadows she hid in, allowing the light to touch upon her face. It was high up above them, and, by a standard humans could comprehend, beautiful and feminine, a light azure touch to her skin, and encased within a golden helm, a cross resting atop and long antennae reaching out, the ends shielded by bladed pieces of black metal. As beautiful as the face was, it was strained by pain and weariness, though a smile now tilted upon it from being so close to her subjects.

"Your majesty." Yasyamon stepped forward, lowering Vincent's battered form down and allowing Komodomon to once again support him. "Your hive has in danger, and we have come to free you." Yasyamon took another step, but Queenbeemon cried out.

"No! You mustn't! Not a step more!" She cried, almost sounding desperate, Yasyamon obediently freezing in place. "I…appreciate it…This is the best I've felt in years…but…you cannot come closer…"

"It's against my better instincts to stay away from a pretty lady." Komodomon paused a moment to grunt as he shifted Vincent's weight around. "So please, let us see you in the light." He set his partner down on the ground, and walked forward, ignoring the Queen's protests and stepping into the dark barrier to be right below her head. There was a strange smell, he noted, and as he let the thought run through his mind, a set of red eyes lit up, then another, and then more and more, it should have illuminated more of QueenBeemon's body, but odd angled shadows were highlighted by the red light, and it became clear that Queenbeemon was weighted down by an alien presence, that was starting to hiss and click.

"Turn on the light." Komodomon waved at the Honeybeemon, raising his other claw into a defensive position and taking a cautious step back.

"No…" The Queen gasped, worried, embarrassed and very afraid.

"Now!" Komodomon barked. He knew that noise, knew what these things were, knew he had to kill them all.

The lights came on, torches bursting into life to reveal fully the royal chamber in which QueenBeemon sat, the great chains that bound down the bulbous, armoured form of her abdomen, along with her more lithe, and curvy torso, all weighed down by the irritated swarm of silver insect like creatures, some sticking long needles into Queenbeemon's body, while others hissed at the light and intrusion.

"TyrantKabuterimon's drones." Komodomon and the Elder growled, full of venom, while the others gasped in shock.

"He would always leave some…to feed off of me…" Queenbeemon panted, the feeding was becoming fiercer as the drones became agitated. "I begged him to…rather than have them feed on the workers…You must go…before they attack!"

"No." Komodomon growled, the Elder nodding in agreement.

"You are our Queen, and though we have been failing you these longs years, we will fulfil our duty and protect you, as you protect us!" The Elder roared, and almost two his surprise, a roaring cheer swelled up from the mass of bees behind him. "ATTACK!"

---

How long had this stupid game been going on for now? Bobby wondered. Panzermon's jumps were getting smaller and smaller, and it took longer and longer for him to crouch and leap. And Bobby certainly felt exhausted, he supposed it was all the screaming and clinging he was doing. There then came a very nasty 'cronk-rhk' noise and Panzermon's crouch faltered as he seemed to sag, smoke billowing from the main joint of his forward left leg as it suffered a direct hit, Panzermon crying out in pain, and Bobby too as pain surged suddenly into his knee.

"P…Panzermon!" Bobby cried.

"Rgh…I'm sorry Kaizer…" Panzermon apologised, before rocking as missiles slammed in once more. "I…I can't jump!" The large digimon spoke in a harsh whisper from the strange nether that seemed to surround his legs.

"Defense! Defense!" Bobby cried as his body began to ache.

The legs shuddered and began to lower, Bobby dropping to the sand as they adopted a lateral position. Taking a few moments to get his jelly like, and oddly aching, legs going, Bobby scrambled into a secure niche around in the legs armour as Panzermon fired up his treads and began moving, hoping to get away from Rapidmon's barrage. But while the treads didn't give off a tell tale 'fwhumph', they were much slower, leaving them far more vulnerable, and it was only because Rapidmon strafed right instead of left with the last barrage that he wasn't able to use the sound of missile on metal to work out their position as they tried to hide within the storm.

"Damn, damn, damn…come out come out wherever you are!" Rapdimon hollered into the roaring winds, letting off the occasional shot as he battled against the winds, rushing around as best he could. Flying in the storm was far from easy, but it would be a bad idea to try and fight Panzermon on the ground. The armoured virus was proving exceedingly irritating, as expected of a freak of his nature, especially if he was anything like '_it'_.

Then his radar picked it up, behind him, the 'thwumpf' of his landing in the sand, wasn't the freak just full of surprises to be able to leap that didn't matter, it still couldn't land a single proper blow. Turning, Rapidmon unleashed a vicious barrage, smiling internally as his radar confirmed the impacts, and the target wasn't moving anymore, he must have finally struck a crippling blow. His grin faltered as suddenly something big enough, came close enough to make an impact on his radar, and with the incredible speed it was moving at, he didn't have a chance at evading as it slammed into him, something incredibly sharp piercing into his shoulder before withdrawing, another stab following up.

"Epee Dance!" A firm, feminine voice called out as a barrage of thrusts rained upon his body, poking holes in his armour. Growling with an unleashed fury, Rapidmon swung out and clubbed his assailant in the head, resulting in a satisfying sound of metal on metal as his new opponent suddenly fell back, before the roar of jets was heard and she lashed out again with the lightning fast 'Epee Dance', while Rapidmon launched back trying to get some range to use to his advantage, only for his blade wielding opponent to keep pace.

"Even within this storm, I can track changes in the air's currents…You stand out like a sore thumb." The voice sounded vicious, and Rapidmon opted for some more desperate measures, allowing his pursuer to catch up and strike him, before slamming his launchers into her side and releasing Rapid Fire, the explosion tearing into both bodies, but the feminine assailant absorbed the main amount of impact, and the assault ceased as she went limp, Rapidmon supporting her with one arm now, if she were an ally of the freak then he just had a nice change in strategy, it was a little low, but he was just a little too pissed off to care.

A factor he hadn't quite realised was that while Panzermon didn't posses any radar equipment, his visual scanning equipment was high quality and that last explosion had been very, very clear to him, and while he couldn't confirm a clear shot anymore, the lack of incoming missiles was giving the virus type just the chance he needed.

"Big Bertha!"

The shot, fired from the cannon mounted upon Panzermon's helm, and with what sounded like a thunderous sneeze, the storm before the cannon bearing digimon parted as the earth shattering blast of air ripped up, blowing away the sand and disrupting the winds to reveal Rapidmon, who was forced to pit the full force of his jets against the force of the blast, even if he was only caught in the indirect force it was enough to throw him off and cause him to brace, clinging tightly to his new shield, the rushing wind causing her to stir and the two looked down on Panzermon, Bobby standing now atop the platform provided by the treds.

"RAPIDMON!" The boy cried to the sky.

'He won't dare fire…' Rapidmon thought for a moment before his eyes widened as the massive cannons upon Panzermon's back swung up with a great grinding of gears, coming to rest upon Panzermon's shoulders. 'He can't seriously be…'

"ZWEIHOWITZ!" Panzermon roared, the cannons hammer sliding back before slamming back down, a crack louder than thunder filled the clear column of and even drowned out the swirling sand and roaring wind as two shining shells were launched out, the air whistling around them.

"M-Miracle Missile!" Rapidmon cried in response, trying to counter with the missile barrage, only to watch his shots erupt as the shells passed through, leaving a fireball in the sky as they rushed up to him and his shield…he had a shield! Truly he was monstrous to sacrifice an ally like tha…

A scream of pain was ripped from the gun bunny as the shells swept up and tore off his free arm and the missile launchers on his back, as well as tearing a sizeable chunk from each of his sensitive ears, passing clear by Queenbeemon, the sudden pain causing her to be dropped as Rapidmon pain induced a ferocious spasm, his insect type prisoner firing up her wings and making a clean break, flying off into the enclosing sand as Panzermon lined up again.

"Big Bertha!"

Once more the 'kafoosh' sneeze like noise and the solid blast of air, pushing the sand back once more before slamming into the exposed part of Rapidmon's gut, crumpling the green bulbs of armour that were too close. With his jets so badly damaged, if not ripped away altogether, and against the sheer force of the attack, Rapidmon could hold position no longer and found himself being blown off through the desert, disorientated and damaged, pulled and along even further by the storming winds.

Grinning, Bobby gazed up at the clear patch of sky as the storm began to fill the void his partner had created. Reaching out, he patted the armour of his partner's body, noting that the green light that had been surrounding him was flickering out, and that Panzermon too was starting to glow.

And then everything went black.

---

"Ugh…oh…" Bobby groaned. He tried to sit up, but what parts didn't refuse to move based on exhaustion, caused his body to burn in pain and with a grunt, he dropped back down onto the bed. As the burning pain settled, he slowly became aware of the soft bed he was upon and the thin, soft pillow at his head felt like something he could sink into, the exhaustion of his body making it all so pleasant to sink into, just a bit more sleep…that was the only coherent thought his brain could make.

'Just a little more sleep…'

Then something tapped on his head, causing him to yelp and groan and open his eyes and become horribly awake. Tossing around, he leaned up, ready to yell at whoever had disturbed his sleep when he froze, seeing Vincent, lying flat on his stomach, one arm outstretched and a grin upon his face, and early events and his situation suddenly came crashing back into his consciousness as his brain fully woke up.

"Are you awake?" Vincent asked, his grin teasing and full of mischievous revenge.

"Vin…Yarrrgh!" Bobby cried, once again trying to sit up fast and his sore points burning once again, causing him to drop back down, hissing.

"Yah…I'll take that as a yes." Vincent smirked drawing his arms back in and crossing it with his other, resting his chin upon his arms.

"You're okay." Bobby panted.

"Careful Bobby…you're sounding relieved." Vincent warned, enjoying the irritated look that grew on the boys face, whether at being called 'Bobby' or at the accusation of his appreciating the teen being alive, Vincent wasn't sure.

"You're sounding pretty easy about almost dying." Bobby shot back.

"I've been lying waiting for my back to heal and you to wake up for a whole week."

"What!" Bobby was able to keep himself from sitting too far up this time, gazing in shock at the teen.

"Nah, I'm just kiddin'. Been about four hours and I'm high on honey." Vincent gave a dopey wave, causing Bobby to scowl. He was about to lash back, until he noticed the bandages that adorned Vincent's body, reaching from his abdomen up to his shoulders, discoloured patches poking out where the bandages couldn't reach. Sighing, Bobby felt the righteous fire slip from him as he let his head drop back while Vincent chuckled. Leaning his head back, he started as he found himself looking up into a pair of shining yellow eyes.

"Hi!" Kotemon cheered, the light of his eyes creasing with his apparent smile. Of course, Bobby hadn't been at all prepared for this and screamed.

A few moments later, with a largely bewildered Kotemon removed by a madly laughing Komodomon, Bobby found himself now using his top for a pillow and trapped in a stifling silence, filled only with the occasional sigh from either himself or his room-mate who, despite the rows of soft mattresses filling the long chamber, was the only other person in the room. To be quite frank, it was grating on the boys nerves, finally pushing him to say…_that_.

"I'm…" A pause for breath, a need to calm the nerves. "Sorry."

Silence.

"Hn…? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Vincent blinked blearily and looked across to his fellow invalid, as if coming out from a daydream.

"Gah!" Bobby cried, wanting to roll over and face away from the teen but was unable to due to the odd bruises that decorated his body.

With a dismissive 'hn', Vincent returned to gazing out at the wall and entering a kind of whimsical daydream, allowing the silence to fall for a while longer.

"Hey, Robert." Vincent eventually took his turn to break the silence, and it took a few moments for the boy in question to respond, so unused to actually being called by his proper name.

"Yeah?"

"You did great. You and Bulletmon."

The silence resumed for a few more moments.

"Thanks." Bobby shifted uncomfortably.

"So you've got a crush on Dainya." Vincent spoke conversationally, looking at the boy from the corner of his eyes. And if Bobby had been drinking, he would have done a spit-take, so instead settled for stuttering like a fool, going red as he tried to say…anything! "Thought so." Vincent nodded to himself.

"I don…I don't have a crush on her!…" Bobby ranted. "…I think…" He admitted.

"Oh?" Vincent's eyes held a slightly sly quality as he looked over at the younger boy this time.

"Ah…I uh…" Bobby stammered as Vincent propped himself up on his elbows, finding himself under a ridiculously patient and understanding look that just pissed the boy off, Bobby opted to confess. "I don't have…friends." The boy rolled his head over to look directly at Vincent. "I'm weird and…well…"

"Annoying?" Vincent proposed, raising his hands in a peace gesture as Bobby glared at him, before sighing and nodding.

"Yeah…that to…I just don't get on with the other kids…but Tanya is willing to spend time with me…I mean, not just 'cause she babysits and all, but since we ran into Eight and Min we've played Digimon a lot together…she's kinda my only friend…well…apart from Bulletmon, but I didn't know he really was real until I joined NS…until then, I always sort of thought it was just me pretending and wishing. And I was kinda just worried that…"

"If I was around, she'd pay less attention to you?" Vincent supplied.

"Yeah." Bobby bowed his head.

'He is so sweet on her…' Vincent mentally sighed. 'For the sake of his sanity Eight must never know.'

"I'm not sure if I can say anything to all that…I don't think Dainya…"

"Tanya." Bobby interrupted.

"Hn?"

"Her real name is 'Tanya'."

"Ah." Vincent nodded in understanding. "Well, I don't think Tanya would ever plain ignore you…and I'm not going to claim to be your friend just yet, but we are comrades, and you're still my subordinate." Bobby gave Vincent an odd look, not really getting where he was going with this. "I'm saying, that, this mess we're in…" he made a gesture to the ceiling. "we're all in it together, and we will look out for you, and maybe one day become your friends. Or something like that." Vincent scratched at his head in mild embarrassment.

"That was kinda lame…" Bobby frowned.

"I'm not good at friendship speeches." Vincent admitted, with a small laugh. "How about we start the friendly stuff over again. I don't think we introduced ourselves anyway. Vincent Reeve." He held out a hand.

"Robert Bradford." Bobby returned, grasping Vincent's hand and shaking it.

"Robert Bradford…" Vincent rolled the name in his mouth. "Robert…Bobby…Mind if I call you BB?"

"BB…" The boy tried it out for himself, it was certainly an improvement on what everyone normally called him. Not childish, a bit more personal and. "Yeah…I don't mind at all." BB grinned.

"Well, get settled in. We're ordered to bed rest for a good few days so we've got plenty of time to get to know each other." Vincent once more settled in, chin resting upon his crossed arms.

"Okay Vinnie." Bobby grinned.

"Don't call me that." Vincent gave a light warning. There was a severe limit on thos who could use that name.

"Alright Vin."

"Or that." Even shorter list, just his French teacher, she said it with accent so it effectively meant 'wine'.

"Vinerino?"

"Don't make me crawl over there!"

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**Raven:**Yeah, Panzermon is awesome.

Probably the best moment I saw in this chapter was when we got to see QueenBeemon. Truth be told, we kinda stole her form from boss QueenBee off of Megaman ZX: Advent, just giving her a better color and more shapely form. Keyo and I tossed around a few ideas on how exactly she was to be chained, until the thought of TK drones came up. This is a very moving scene in my opinion, as it not only shows how far she is willing to go for her hive, but it also shows exactly how cruel TyrantKabuterimon was.

Man, almost a shame we killed him. He's getting some good character development for being a dead guy.

**Keyo:** Yeah…Panzermon really is awesome.

This fight originally sucked. It was all stalemate and cold war because I couldn't work out how to do a good fun fight, then my muse seemed to get back from her Christmas vacation and began to get my story drive working. I actually really like how this chapter went, it's got a good amount of action, bits of world and character development, and a nice few small hints to other things that you can all guess at if you notice them.

I'm sorry there isn't a detailed description of QueenBeemon in this chapter, but there wasn't much chance for anyone to get a really good look at her, as she was either in the dark, buried under drones, or in a sandstorm. We also finally find out why BB (I finally get to call him that) didn't exactly like Vincent/Cait when they first met. Girls cause so many problems…even scrawny geeky ones like Tanya

First person to say 'love triangle' gets a house dropped on their head.

**CrazyEight:**I used to have a cat named 'BB'. Except that was because it was short for 'Belly Button'. He had a herniated one when he was born. I approve of this nickname :P)

**Keyo & Raven (& CrazyEight)**


	34. Chapter 34

**Keyo: **Repeat after me. There was no missed update. Digimon does not belong to Keyo and Raven. I will review.

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**Chapter 34:** Board Meeting.

The Knights Move.

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Juan didn't know what time it was. There was light coming through the slits in the blinds, but it was a peachy orange that left him unsure as to whether or not it was evening or morning.

When the plane had touched down upon the artificial island of the Kansai International Airport, Juan was roused as the air Captain's voice came over the speakers, the information regarding time and temperature a fuzzy blur that served as an alarm to wake him. Elaine had remained dead to the world, though now under the effect of nature, rather than medication. Gently, he had stroked her cheek, while whispering nice bits of nonsense into her ear, easing her back into consciousness. Dignified, even in sleep, Elaine made no noise as she came awake, simply glaring Juan as light invaded her eyes, her blonde hair flopping about her face as she tried to shake off the effects of her deep sleep. Juan had smiled, his own drowsiness fading fast, as he watched her features scrunch up in irritation at being wakened and as she tried to suppress any noise, before finally letting off a small groan as she straightened up in her chair, glaring at Juan as he smiled and that you're so cute smile', same as he did every time he watched her wake. Undoing her belt, she tried to stand, but found that her head spun so gave up, giving a dismissive wave to Juan as she shrank back into the seat, allowing him to pass by to get their bags from the overhead, cursing her low blood pressure and silently envying Juan's quick revival. Relenting again, she allowed him to help her up, steadying against him, as she felt a bit woozy. She wasn't sure what would be more embarrassing, to blame it on low blood pressure, or the meds that let her sleep instead of getting air sick. Stepping out onto the airfield, the sea breeze proved refreshing as the pair found the ocean forming their horizon, before moving with the crowd into the airport terminal.

Skipping the baggage claim, having only packed the two backpacks that made up their hand luggage, the pair soon found a man waiting for them dressed in a rather stereotypical chauffeur outfit, holding a large card with their names printed upon it in bold black text. Conversation with him was brief as Juan introduced them and they were led to a black car with dark windows, the sort that has its place in spy thrillers and made Juan's nerves spike up again as he tried to batter them down, holding the rear door open in a gentlemanly fashion to allow Elaine in first, as she half threw her backpack into the car to settle on the far seat and provided no acknowledgement as she entered, but sat in the middle as Juan came in behind her, smiling as he sat with her shoulder pressed against his, and was a little surprised as she leant against him and was the one to lace their fingers together.

"I think the meds haven't completely worn off yet." She said as excuse, before giving his hand a small squeeze, closing her eyes and settling against him. "And the light's in my eyes."

Well, it was enough to make Juan smile as his nerves settled with the warm grip of the iron maiden.

He just wished that they could be continuing it under the table in the boardroom high in the gloomy office building that was Pandai's business headquarters, having been directed to it by the secretary downstairs. The room was clearly a board room, longer than it was wide, with a single long wooden table running the length of it, twelve chairs running along the sides with the thirteenth and fourteenth one end, a large projector screen hanging before the other, four long windows running along behind Juan and Elaine looking out onto the street and the office tower across the road. At present there was only one other in the room with them, a Chinese man with a near military hair cut and wearing precision ironed whit shirt and black trousers, clean shaven and looking as proper as he could without being in a full suit. No introductions had been made yet, and no one had spoken since coming into the room, but both Juan and Elaine doubted they'd need them to know that the man was the mind behind Kuan Yu, head moderator and partner of Omnimon. Eventually the double doors swung open violently as the result of a kick, a rather irritated young Japanese man stormed in.

"Wow…Jet…" Juan quite honestly gaped. "You really look like…you…Blue hair and everything."

The man, clad in a blue sports jacket and white tee shirt and jeans with his hair spiked up and dyed a deep blue. Locking eyes with him in what could be called a heated glare', one word slipped from his mouth, dripping with as much annoyance as appropriate for a boardroom.

"Gaijin."

"Ueito! Jet-Kuuuun!" A young voice called, a thumping being heard as someone ran down the carpeted corridor, almost running into the door as Jet let it swing back into place, an annoyed squeal coming before it was thrust back open. A young Japanese girl, clad in a dark blue school uniform in the classic sailor style, long black hair tied back in a ponytail. She was about to scold the older man when he removed his jacket and dumped it on her head, causing her to fume loudly as he pulled a chair out and sat across from Juan, leaning back on the rear legs and closing his eyes, not reacting as the coat was pulled off and thrown across his own head. "Baaaaa-ka!" She almost yelled, screwing up her face and balling her fists before launching into a rant, Jet' eventually pulling the coat from his face and returning fire into the argument. The routine neutrality of her face slipping into a faint display of annoyance, Elaine turned her head slightly as she spoke.

"What are they saying?" She asked, her mastery of language focusing more around those of European origin, rather than Asian.

"Something about practically kidnapping her, that he drives like a maniac, and that it's way to early for all this." Juan gave a brief of the yelling, personally satisfied to now know that it was morning. "And he's mostly just calling her an idiot, a brat, and telling her to shut up."

Seemingly satisfied, Elaine returned her head to its previous position, before leaning back.

"Why is there a kid here?" She asked.

"I'm not a kid!" The girl suddenly turned her ranting upon Elaine.

Kicking a chair out, Jet' grabbed onto the girl's top and pulled her down sharply, catching her off guard and forcing her down into the chair, and telling her in gruff tone that effectively translated as Yeah, you're a brat. Now shut up.'

Sitting, the girl fumed for a bit before taking proper notice of the two seated across the solid oak table, her mood calming a bit as she seemed to be trying to decipher whom they were, Juan giving a small cheery wave. She blushed a little as his smile settled upon her, but was then distracted by Elaine's face which, while superficially neutral, seemed to radiate a deep annoyance…particularly with her, and Elaine watched with an eyebrow arching as the girl shrank into her seat in some kind of embarrassed worry, the eyebrow's movement only causing her to sink further.

Juan considered making a an effort at conversation, at the very least from a curiosity as to the reason behind the young girl's presence, when the door swung open and a tall, lithe well dressed man with, what could only be described as, long flowing blonde hair, stepped into the room with a cold kind of grace, his cold look and handsome pale features making him seem a reflection of Juan's warm smiles and entrancing dark colours. Behind the man came an old man, his short, bald, and with long drooping moustache, and clad in a drab suit, his presence almost completely missed due to the magnet of attention the blonde man drew, even as he opted to sit in one of the side chairs while the old man moved to the head of the table, all eyes remained on the younger, attention only turning to him when he began to speak, and it came in a torrent of Japanese, forcing Juan to translate for Elaine in-between pauses and breaths.

" I'm sorry I took so long to get here. " The man apologized in a business tone that gave the implication that he wasn't actually apologizing to them, and was only sorry for the waste of time it had been to him. " Let's get down to business. I am Namazuhige Gouyoku, President of Pandai. " There was no dramatic reaction to this, save for the young girl sitting straighter. " Now, before we get down to business I'll need you all to sign these. " With surprising vigour, he swung a black briefcase up, before lowering it gently to the table to avoid scratches. Clicking it open, he produced five small stacks of paper, no more than 5 sheets each, and bound together with two staples each. " They're an extension to your current contracts. " He explained as he walked down as far as far as Juan, giving all the bundles to him and indicating to him to pass them around before walking back up to the top of the table. " It basically states that should you repeat what we discuss here today without consent, you will be fired, your account deleted, and we will do our damn best to make sure you never speak again. " The thinly veiled threatening tone that should have been in his voice was absent, instead marinating the décor of business calm, if anything it made them all take what he said very seriously as all read over the contracts, Elaine giving it a cold stare and feigning reading, signing when Juan did, hoping that he wasn't doing so simply because his fanciful curiosity was piqued. Once all had signed, and the contracts returned to Namazuhige, the old man looking with over, twiddling one long strand of his moustache as he checked the signatures, before giving a curt nod and a small grunt before placing them back in the suitcase and locking it closed. " Very well, we'll continue this meeting downstairs. " Lifting the suitcase from the table, he moved towards the door with long strides, pushing them open and moving out into the corridor, not pausing a moment to check if the others were indeed following.

Eventually he led them to the lift, drawing a key out from his pocket as they all filed into the cramped space. When the doors closed, Namazuhige pushed the key into a small slot that rested beneath the basement' button, and gave it a sharp turn to the right, before pushing the basement key and sending the lift running down, the common feeling of their stomachs rising as the lift descended fell upon them as the lift moved, the light's to indicate it's position going blank upon every floor.

" What I'm about to show you goes beyond simply violating child labour laws, eh, Momo-chan? " He gave a dry chuckle which didn't spread any good humour, and only made the girl, Momo, look very uncomfortable. " …Incidentally, the contracts cover that as well, the last thing I need added to this mess is child services hammering on my door. "

Silence resumed for the rest of the trip, almost stifling in the stuffy enigma of the scenario, leaving Juan glad he had Elaine's cool stoicism as a point of familiar reference. With a bump, the lift reached its destination, the light display within the lift had gone blank, so there was no indication of how far down they had gone. The doors slid open as Namazuhige gave the key a twist and pulled it out, placing it within an unseen inner pocket, cold air flooded the lift's cabin along with the thrum' of powerful air conditioning and computer servers. A steel grey room lay before them all, filled with long, high walls of computer servers, technicians in white coats moving amongst the cold metal labyrinth.

" This is where we keep the main server. " Namazuhige explained, leading the way out and through the improvised corridors, the air growing cooler and colder the further they went. Eventually they noticed cables lying around on the floor, not small wires, but massive cables as thick as Juan's calves.

"Yggdrasil?" Juan and Momo asked in unison.

" Yes. " Was the curt reply. " But here's the part that required the contract. "

Turning a final corner, they group found themselves confronted with a large chamber, it's walls a solid steel more suited to a military base, the far one bearing a great ring of copper, the area around it horrible scorched, as were the horseshoe clasps that held the copper in place, the shine of the copper indicated that it was new. The way up to the copper ring was guarded on each side by two parallel walls of two feet thick steel, lines of two foot thick bullet proof glass, upon each side of these extra walls were a cluster of computers and terminals that were linked back to Yggdrasil and up to the copper ring.

"Wha… What is all this? " Juan had to correct himself back into Japanese.

" One bombshell at a time. " Namazuhige moved to stand before the entranceway to the ring's walkway. " I suppose I should start with the first one, it'll help to explain everything else, especially why I brought you all here. Digimon are real. "

It was said without pause a noticeable pause, and without any drama, as if he was simply telling his board about the latest share prices, but it still caused a halting pause for the group, Elaine raising up an eyebrow as Juan didn't translate.

"I only understood Digimon." She said as prompt.

"Ah, sorry. One moment." Juan apologised, before scratching at his chin and looking to their boss. " Sir, are you serious? " Namazuhige didn't change expression, and his standard business look of cold steel that put Elaine to shame, was enough to answer Juan. Namazuhige didn't joke. "Right. Um…He said Digimon are real."

Elaine raised an eyebrow and Juan shrugged.

" Years ago I discovered the digital world, and was able to, shall we say, mine it, to create Digimon Online. " Namazuhige explained. " There were always some irregularities, but this recent…development was quite unexpected. "

" You mean the disappearances. " Kuan stated with his usual absolute certainty.

" Yes. On the night of the expansion the digital world moved in an unexpected fashion, bringing it closer to ours for a moment, and in that moment, we were transferring new data across to the game, leaving a way open between our worlds. "

" You mean everyone who disappeared is now in the digital world? " Momo blurted, with a badly veiled excitement.

" Yes. Already global authorities are making the connections and we've already had to answer several questions. " The President's tone spoke carried annoyance, as if the police bad been wasting his time. " This is something that can never get out, and so that's why I'm sending you all to bring them back. "

The pause settled in again, appearing as Juan finished his translation. There was a quiet moment as everyone absorbed this order, Namazuhige's tone had made it being an order perfectly clear, and then Jet' began to talk.

" I'm not saying I believe this…But if the game is anything to go by, isn't the digital world a dangerous place? "

"Spiky thinks the prez has gone senile and is scared." Was Juan's translation, causing Elaine to roll her eyes and Momo to chuckle, Juan flashing the girl a quick smile as she did. Jet's English was too limited to understand what was said, but the tone and reactions were enough to make him grumble.

" I only make secure investments. " Namazuhige replied. " I don't care much for your safety, or for those that have disappeared, but I do care about what the loss could do for my business. Steps have been taken for your safety. "

"Well I feel appreciated." Elaine grumbled as she heard the translation.

" Hayami has a point. " Kuan's eyes narrowed. " How can you even guarantee safe travel for us? I'm not sure jumping realities is a simple thing. "

" Because we've tested it. On Head Moderator Jean. " A twisted smile came upon the old man's lips for a moment as Kuan' straightened. " I knew how to guarantee that you would all be willing to go through, whether you believed me or not. Mr Hayami and Mr Leerheit are a simple case of money. " He indicated the blue haired and blonde haired men. "Mr Miguel and Miss Shotaro, and even with your coolness, Miss Queen, curiosity would compel you. But as for our acting Captain… " The sly glance roved over to the partner of Omnimon. " With you're calm rational and practicality, what could convince you to place your faith in the unknown? "

" I get your point. " Kuan's tone was irritated, but conceding, making the old President chuckle in victory.

" Isn't this something you should have let the police know about and handle? " Juan asked, now fighting to control nerves of a different kind, and a small well of excitement.

" Hmph. I hardly expected this kind of doubt from you. " Namazuhige uttered in annoyance. " My reasons are strictly business, but suffice to say that if we did let the various authorities know about it, you wouldn't get a chance to go through and take a look. " For a moment, Juan twitched, as if he had a confliction of reason, before settling down in defeat, knowing that the President was right, making Namazuhige smirk again. " I'll give you all an hour to work it all out as best you can, and then we're sending you through. " There was a dismissive wave in the direction of the lift, before going to the computer consoles and looking at the various data and speaking with the technicians and making it abundantly clear that he wasn't going to talk to anyone else for the next hour. As the others moved off, Juan and Elaine remained.

"There's no point. The old man still has the elevator key." The blonde sighed.

"Hm." Juan replied, looking over to where the girl, Momo, was lurking, gazing up at the tall towers. "Daijobuka, Shining Maiden Tokusatsu? He called, causing the girl to jump and give a small eep, Juan grinning as she did so. "I thought I recognized that laugh."

Shuffling across, Momo looked very embarrassed as she glanced up at her fellow moderators.

"Given what the old man said…I doubt you're just cosplaying." Elaine's cold glance made the girl squirm for once wishing her English wasn't so good.

"Play nice, Elaine." Juan wrapped his arms around his beloved Iron Maiden, causing her to sigh. "It's quite a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Tokusatsu." Juan smiled.

"It's Momo." The girl replied, offering her hand. "Shotaro Momo."

"Juan Miguel." The man returned, grasping the girl's hand and giving it a warm shake.

"Elaine Queen." The woman offered her hand, giving a quick curt shake.

Before conversation could progress further, Namazuhige turned grinning as the others returned, followed by a pair of men in suits, each carrying a collection of bags, which the assembled moderators recognized as the sparse luggage they had brought with them, or in Momo's case, her school bag.

" Door was locked. " The blonde man, Mr Leerheit, grunted, causing Elaine to smirk in superiority.

"Definitely our Indifferent Knight, Rhodes." Juan whispered.

" I wondered when you would realize that. " Namazuhige chortled. " If you'll take your things, we'll get you sent through. "

Snapping his fingers, he directed the technicians to begin, and the sound of fingers hammering upon keys filled the air as instructions were given to computers, and a powerful whine was heard as generators started up.

" When we first tested this we almost caused a blackout across all Japan. " The President chuckled as he indicated for the group of moderators to step onto the walkway, between the thick steel walls. " Go through when the green light comes on. " He called as he moved back to the safer side and took stood by one of the consoles, causing a variety of shrugs and sighs.

"I can't believe we're doing this." Elaine sighed, rolling her eyes. "I must still be sleeping on that bloody plane." She glanced across as Juan grasped her hand in his.

"Just in case." He smiled, a well of excitement building in his stomach and causing the smile to spread across his whole face, as blue lightning seemed to dance across the copper.

There came a sudden whoosh as the blank, slightly burnt, space of wall within the ring lit up, becoming a great glare of swirling light that stirred the air and the sound of the server's drives became much louder as they contributed to the formation of the bridge.

"Gott in himmel…" Leerheit uttered, before a small green lightbulb that sat above the ring lit up.

"GO!" Namazuhige was heard to cry; all but Kuan stalling as they found themselves watching the man striding forward, backpack slung over one shoulder. Hayami, or Jet', stood numb for a moment, before grunting and trudging forward, before pausing and turning, barking at the rest.

" Oi! Hurry up! "

As if snapping awake, the others began to move as Kuan vanished into the light, Jet following soon after and Leerheit right behind. Momo froze as Juan's hand clasped a hold of hers.

"Just in case he grinned, before suddenly running forward, pulling the girls along with him. "To see the wizard!" He called, before pulling the girls into the light. There was nothing for a few moments, just the rushing sound of the ring and the straining air conditioning fans, before there was a pop noise, a spark, then a bang as one of the computer terminals burst into flames, then a loud explosion as flame burst out from the steel walled corridor as the copper ring exploded, green flame gushing out and falling short of roasting the servers as one technician brought a fire extinguisher out and began to spray down the burning terminal. Without any fanfare or concern, Namazuhige drew the key out from his inner pocket and began to twirl it about one finger as he made his way back towards the lift.

" I'll be in my office if anyone needs me. " Was all he said.

---

**-Chatroom: Office Meeting-**

**MadMadamMin: Have you managed to contact Eight?**

**Rekots: **I'm afraid not. I have also been unable to reach Lieutenant Colonel's Cait and Tatum.

**Dshungelbush: **What happened?

**Rekots: **Not a clue, and without Eight I don't think we're equipped to be able to find out.

**MadMadamMin:** What are we going to do Stoker?

**MadMadamMin:** General?

**Rekots:** Sorry. I was thinking.

**Rekots:** To be honest, I don't know. We need to find out how many members we have left, and what happened to all of the Digimon.

**Dshungelbush: **Orders?

**Rekots:** Continue efforts to locate our remaining members…the game is completely gone so check forums for contacts and any other lead we have, and maintain absolute secrecy.

**MadMadamMin: **Yes Sir!

**Dschungelbush: **Yes Sir!

**-Chatroom Closed-**

There was a soft fluttering of wings within the dark room, pale light from the computer screen the only illumination as the room's occupant pulled his legs up upon the chair and placed his thumb near to his mouth, nibbling gently on the digit's end and nail, his brain working in a rapid fashion, trying to beat down panic. The flutter stopped as DemiDevimon alighted upon the back of the chair, red talons pushing gently into the back.

"We will find them General, don't worry." The Brigadier-General assured.

"I try not to…" The voice of a young boy. "But it's so hard…I'm not strong enough on my own…Vincent…Elizabeth…Richard…" It sounded as if he was fighting off sobs. "I don't know if I can keep going without them."

DemiDevimon sagged, it hurt a little to not be part of the center of his partner's strength, but he knew that his human friends had been a part of his life a lot longer, and now in their absence he would have to support the young boy who had led…no, who was leading the Nightmare Soldiers, especially in this dangerous, confusing time. But he knew he was going to be just as reliant upon his young partner, trapped now in this world that for so long lay on the other side of a computer screen, the real world.

"I am here with you Sir." He assured. "And until we are able to find the others, I will give all my strength to you."

Looking up at his partner, the boy pulled the devil bat into a hug, surprising the normally reserved digimon.

"Thank you DemiDevimon…and please…call me Jan."

"We will find everyone, and we'll find out what happened…I promise you, Jan."

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**Raven: **If we said we had a really hard time making this chapter, would you forgive us?

I'll let Keyo go into the details of our problems, let's just say that we had a little more we wanted to put into this chapter, and we decided instead to split it into two chapters; this one focusing on those back in the real world, and the next giving accounts of everyone in the digital world. At the same time, I think (I say I think, meaning I have to trust my knowledge of Keyo) that we both aren't sure this is as good as it could be. Keyo came up to me last week and told me "This is when people find out that they KNOW." And suddenly, we realized our previous work on the chapter was inadequate.

Then again, I may just feel uneasy because we were so late this time. I seriously hope you guys enjoy these next couple chapters, as we'll take a little time off of our Ultimate roster and recap on where everyone is.

I'll end by stating where the name "BB" came from. Honestly, BB was the last name we had gotten for anyone, and we had no idea what to name him. Until we decided, we kept calling him "Bulletmon Boy" or "Bullet Boy", and we shortened it down for convenience when we didn't feel like spelling that much (we only know each other through IMs, so typing length matters). Eventually, we said screw it and called him BB for his official name. Keyo, wanting a reason for his name, gave him a real name for BB to stand for, and thus, Robert "BB" Bradford was born.

**Keyo: **So last week I was working on this, amongst everything else, and wound up realizing, as Rave said 'This is when we find out they KNOW.' I hadn't put as much effort into it as I should, and that it was looking like crap. So I took another week, and I'm still not entirely happy with it, I feel there should be more than there is. But it seems to run okay, so I'm putting it up, I don't want to draw out this update any longer, and I want to get back to writing Lupmon.

So what else is there for me to say? Well, to elaborate on anything would border on giving some spoilers as to the details of Pandai's history. I will let you know that Namazuhige means droopy moustache though.

So yes, once again we're back and it was totally Hitler's fault that we weren't here last week. Bad Hitler.

On a side note, who saw any of this coming?


	35. Chapter 35

**Keyo:**Sunday is the new Saturday! Digimon isn't ours, read and enjoy!

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**Chapter 36: **R&R!

Rest and Recap!

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Three days had gone by since Tanya and her group had begun to follow the river. Mud caked shoes and feet and trouser leg, and backs were sore from sleeping upon the ground, bags hung under eyes from poor sleep and stomachs rumbled due to hunger, the mushrooms and berries they had been forced to scavenge for had proved to be ill-sufficient to sating their hunger. It was all made worse, by the fact that it was currently raining, the tears of heaven soaking them completely as they trudged on, sapped of the will to talk, only giving the occasional grunt, as a foot was pulled free of sticky mud. Even Lupmon's spirits were low as her fur hung in wet clumps about her body and the audible growls and churns of her stomach signalled the source of her lack of energy. Tanya's hood was drawn right up and provided limited protection as it became soaked through, one arm looped around Liz's, the harsh rain making it harder for the near sighted girl to see where she was going, while Liz was still suffering from the exhaustion that had set upon her after their clash with the bizarre digimon in the Dokugumon nest, while Koromon sagged unhappily upon her head, acting as an impromptu hat, keeping the top patch of Liz's head remotely dry.

"Ugh..." Liz grunted.

"Un…" Tanya complied.

"Uo…" Koromon contributed.

"I smell smoke." Lupmon paused, nose sniffing at the air, drawing looks from her companions.

"Where Lupmon?" Liz asked in a somewhat pushy tone, she was very weary and if there was smoke, maybe that meant there was a village near-by, which would mean heat and a roof and food.

"That way." Lupmon pointed along the river, flicking the thick mats of hair from her eyes. "It's not too far, cause I can smell it through the rain."

"Heh…I knew it." The blonde grinned, looking along the grey waters of the river. "Let's keep going. Lupmon, keep following the scent."

"Hn." The wolf nodded, keeping her nose up in order to keep the smell within her metaphorical sights.

They continued in silence again for about a half hour, staying by the river, their feet squelching as they forced their way through the mud, slipping a few times but continuing on their way until the horizon made a sudden drop and the thundering roar of a waterfall became prevalent. Reaching the cliff, the group looked over to see a small town nestled in the valley below. The houses were all wooden and smoke poured from their chimneys, the main 'street' ran on either side of the river, with a row of long buildings upon either side of the water and a series of bridges joining each bank, behind the two straight lines were a cluster of buildings in varying sizes, along with a large equipped with a spire. A new warmth entered the travellers, very different from the wet squishy warmth of tropical mud and rain, and it was an effort to restrain excitement as the looked for a safe way down to the town, spending another half hour finding a path and traversing it with utmost caution, not wanting to ruin their current elation with a sudden drop.

As they reached the town, caution began to pull at their wide eyes as they walked amongst the wooden buildings, entering the main street upon its right bank. The Dokugumon had hardly been a warm reception and their nights spent in fear within the jungle had left them with a near paranoia like concern that they may be attacked at any moment. Music began to reach their ears and a loud gurgling growl pre-empted Lupmon's next words.

"I can smell food…and here music." She beamed, excitement and hunger overriding her senses as her tail began to beat against the muddy ground, spattering her back with mud and making wet squelching slaps as it struck at the sloppy ground.

The others could hear it too now, as Koromon's long tail like ears perked up, as Piano music could be heard, coming out in a 'plinky' and jolly fashion from one of the long buildings, a large sign sat above it's door and though the writing upon it was completely intelligible to the four, it reminded the two girls of the Inns in old westerns, and deciding it to be their best bet, began to move towards the attractive warm light and music, and for Lupmon, the smell of food.

It was quite a sight as they entered, and for a moment they could have sworn they were back in their Inn in the game, as the place held a distinct western theme to it, with an old piano belting out honky tonk tunes in place of the barber shop quartet, but the digimon at the round tables were engaged in card games with poker chips staked up as bets carried on, plates of hot food and cool drinks filled the rest of the available space, and conversation filled the room along with laughter as everyone enjoyed the warm fire and music that shielded them from the wet and cold outside. The majority of Digimon were either the grey furred wolf bunnies of Gazimon, or the Mohawk-ed frogs of Betamon, bearing amongst them a variety of cowboy and farming bits of clothing, predominantly hats. Manning the bar was a bizarre digimon, who looked to be a kind of totem poll, with six effective heads, each with a face resembling a different creature, and a large base, which resembled the tentacles of an octopus, and brought the lowest head up to about the middle of the bar, allowing it to look along the drinks arranged below, long wooden arms with spherical joints came out from each of the heads, four from each, and as the digimon scurried around it manned the ovens and stoves, while passing out drinks to the patrons at the bar or giving filled meal trays over to the Floramon waitresses, all the while keeping up multiple conversations about harvests, trade, festivals and cooking.

He also wore a chef's hat.

It was the second face down (which bore a resemblance to a cheery teddy bear) which spotted the quartet standing wet, muddy, and shivering in the door way, and let out a gasp, alerting the top head, (who resembled an eagle, with its large, curved beak), to turn and its normally piercing eyes to widen.

"You poor dears must be frozen! Come in, come in!" His voice was strong and firm, kind, but a mon in charge. "Floramon!" He barked, and one of the waitresses ran over, apparently aware exactly which of them had been summoned.

"Yes Mr Totemmon!" She called as she pulled up before him.

Relieving her of her tray, Totemmon's fourth down head turned to speak, allowing the tall digimon to be at eye level, while the others all resumed work.

"Take them to be cleaned." He instructed. "I want them bathed and their outfits washed okay?"

"Yes sir!" Floramon responded enthusiastically, turning and performing a courtesy with her pink skirt to the rather dumbstruck group.

"Uh…sir…" Tanya began.

"Hush!" Totemmon's middle head turned to her, it's drowsy turtle face seemed oddly full of energy. "You've obviously come a long way through the jungle, and I won't have wet, muddy people in my inn. Now go and get cleaned!"

A murmuring chuckle moved through the fellows in the inn as Totemmon began to usher them in the direction of the stairs, Floramon taking over once they were out of his extensive reach, if the cold had not already done it, Tanya's cheeks would have been flushed with embarrassment as the patrons of the inn snickered at Totemmon's treatment of them.

"Come, come!" Floramon cheered in a singsong voice. "Let's get you all nice and squeaky clean!"

"Tanya, what's a bath?" Lupmon asked as they found themselves being forced to ascend.

"Eh Totemmon." One of the Gazimon called from his table, kerchief about his neck and a Stetson hat upon his head. "Don't you think that was a little sudden? You've scared the poor beggars witless."

"Geh." Totemmon's top head looked over at the grey furred digimon. "I just can't stand seeing anyone cold and hungry."

"You also can't stand seeing anyone not pay." One of the Floramon added.

"Too true too!" Totemmon cheered as laughter sang out amongst the patrons before settling back into the usual cheer of their card games and conversations and honky-tonk piano tunes.

---

A long sigh escaped Liz's mouth as she let herself sink down into the warm, steaming water that filled the long tin bath, going down until her head was submerged before rising again with a soft groan of comfort as the warm water soothed her weary, stiff, and cold form. Reaching over the rim, she picked Koromon off the ground and dropped the pink blob into the water with an audible plop, her partner soon floating to the surface enough to breath, the long floppy ears sitting limp in the water as a stream of bubbles stemmed from under the water as Koromon's submerged mouth let out a relaxed sigh, before the nostrils pulled air in nosily.

Tanya meanwhile sat opposite with her back to the blonde girl, knees tucked up to her chest and arms wrapped around her legs in an effort to look as small as possible and hide her naked form, embarrassment written across her face, while Lupmon splashed happily in a third bath, joyfully submerging her head and blowing bubbles, before giggling at them and creating more, causing her tail to thwap against the water and splash it out upon the wooden floor.

The room they were in was pretty simple, it had a large fire set into one wall (the far walls of the building being made from stone to protect from unwanted growths in the flames) and it was large enough to hold big pots of water, which were used to prepare the hot water for the baths. The rest of the room was fairly sparse, with a four simple single beds with white cotton sheets, a double window (currently covered by shutters) wooden flooring with a rug in the middle, and a desk upon one wall, along with badly painted pictures of the jungle and surrounding area for decoration.

"Ohhh…I needed this…" Liz groaned, stretching as best she could, causing Koromon to rock in the disturbed waters, though no reaction was given as it seemed that the in-training digimon had dozed off. "I swear, that top was far too tight. Can I swap tee-shirts with you when we get dressed again?"

"How can you be so calm…?" Tanya asked, her voice wavering.

"Tanya?" Liz's tone became concerned as she looked over at the slightly quivering girl.

"W-we're lost out here…and we almost died! We've barely been surviving and even now we don't know what to do or how to get home." Tears dribbled down Tanya's face, eventually dropping off her chin and into the bath water. "We're g-gon-na-a, gonna have to leave here if we want to get home…and I don't know if I can take it again, I don't know if I can survive out there…I-I'm scared and I just wanna…I just wanna…" Tanya's words collapsed into sobs as she shivered in the warm water, the sound causing Lupmon to stop playing and let out a pine.

There came a sound of moving water as Liz stood up and Tanya almost jumped when she felt the girl wrap her arms about her shoulders, pulling her into a loose hug as she crouched behind Tanya's bath.

"It'll be alright…don't worry." She assured. "No matter what happens, me and Agumon will look out for you guys."

"Me too!" Lupmon cheered, hopping up from her bath, splashing water everywhere, and scurrying over to throw a soggy doggy hug around her partner. "I'll protect you Tanya, don't worry!"

"But…"

"No buts!" Liz interrupted firmly. "I said I wasn't going to let my brother show me up right? He died saving us and he and Agumon achieved Mega, there's no way I can stop until I've got us all back home then." With that, the blonde rose and padded back across to her own bath, once more sinking into the warm waters. "I told you we need to focus on the present, and right now we can enjoy it too." She instructed, before letting herself sink down so that only her eyes were above the surface, and she let them fall shut.

'I almost forgot about that…' Tanya thought as Lupmon yelped about her fur going cold and leapt noisily back into her own waters. 'Liz's brother…' She risked a glance across at the girl. 'She lost someone close to her, but she's putting her energy into looking after me…I really should be more grateful.'

---

**3 Days Ago**

The winds howled as Yasyamon was able to find BlackRapdimon, pinned to the desert floor by the large needle. By now, his arms and legs were all gone, and his ears and abdomen were fading fast, the loose data being carried off on the wind and mixing with the sand. By Yasyamon, were the Elder, and a small guard of Honeybeemon.

"Geh heh…I haven't moved…" The sentence trailed into a series of hacking coughs. "Don't worry, I won't run away."

"You'll understand my making sure." Yasyamon replied.

More coughs came before Black was able to respond.

"I've got to admit…geh…you got me good…Truly a battle worth dying in…Allow me to present you with a reward…" The black armoured warrior lifted his head enough to look over at the elder. "TyrantKabuterimon…has been destroyed. My master was able to feel his the blast that snuffed out his existence…he found it all…very amusing…" More harsh coughs. "More will come for you Yasyamon…I would suggest you start running…" Laughs came, laughs that persisted despite the painful coughs that disrupted them as the last of BlackRapidmon faded away into the wind.

**Present**

A long sigh escaped Vincent's mouth as he clanked his bowl down on the table, finding that it was being filled again with water before he had time to ask, the young man immediately giving a small thank-you before gulping down the sweet liquid as he and his companions refreshed themselves. They had been recouping in the hive for the past three days, but still they could not find their fill of sweet water and honeycomb, Vincent especially, for it was only today that he had been allowed up and about, and it isn't easy to eat and drink while lying flat on your stomach, and he was finding it hard to maintain his manners as he filled the hunger and thirst that had been plaguing him, while the others seemed to be striking out with no restraint as the gulped and slurped and messily devoured, while only Yasyamon was a figure of reserve (how he was eating around his mask was unknown, but it was not a pressing matter for Vincent at the moment.)

At present, they sat around a long table in the throne room, now cleaned of TyrantKabuterimon's horrible drones. Along one side sat Vincent, presently topless with his torso bound in bandages, Komodomon, B.B and a metallic hexagon with four stocky legs, Bulletmon's in-training form of Capmon. Opposite them, sat Yasyamon, Kotemon (his mask pushed back up his head enough to allow him to gulp down water and honeycomb.) At the head of the table, was QueenBeemon, the only one not eating. Her body was seen now to be lean and feminine, encased in gold and onyx armour that fit to her body with a two pairs of silver rods sitting in a rough formation upon her back, the spot her wings emerged from. Her head was encased in a slick helm with a black visor in a long buggy shape, a pair of antennae pointing through, while her legs and lower part of her abdomen vanished into the large, armoured pod that allowed her to tower over the group. A whirring sound could be heard from it, but what purpose it served, none of those present, save the Elder, knew it.

"I must once again thank you for all that you have done for us." QueenBeemon spoke with a graceful formal tone.

"The most work was done by our late friend." Vincent spoke in a respectable, moderately sombre, manner.

"Still, it was you all you resolved our latest crisis and freed me from the last remnants of TyrantKabuterimon's control. We owe you and your friends thanks." She bowed her head, causing all present to flush in some manner. There was something in her regal tone and bearing that gave her compliments and words a special kind of power. "Perhaps you could all tell us of how you came to be here, you are the first visitors we have had in a long time, and I love a good story."

Komodomon, true to his instinct, went first. Giving a brief detail of the history and purpose of the Nightmare Soldiers, culminating in a dramatic retelling of the Expansion, and how Richard and Agumon became WarGreymon and their valiant battle against TyrantKabuterimon, calumniating in sacrifice and mutual destruction. Vincent could not deny that his partner was able to draw out a wave of excitement as he described the battle, but he couldn't help but look down in a kind of shame as he was reminded of his friend's death.

For the first time since arriving, his thoughts turned directly to Liz and her partner. The two Agumon had almost been siblings as much as their partners had, and he knew how close the brother and sister were. It felt like he'd known both forever and he hoped that Liz wasn't alone out there…wherever she was…he hoped she wasn't being careless and running off into danger.

And Dainya and Lupmon, if something happened to that pair he'd never forgive himself. He brought them into this mess, and, not that he didn't believe in them, but with Dainya's nervous disposition and Lupmon's innocent energy, they could easily blunder into trouble they couldn't get out of, not alone…He, B.B, Komodomon and the now Capmon had barely survived their brush with the Rapidmon pair, and they had allies and a pair of ultimates.

And what of Min and Demidevimon, and and Tatum and Leormon, and Apemon…

"Are you okay, Sir Reaves?" QueenBeemon asked, noting the sudden tension upon the young man's face, her soft tone snapping him out and making him feel a different kind of guilt.

"Perhaps concern for his missing troops is weighing upon him." Yasyamon put forward, politely placing his bowel down upon the table. "I at least know the fate of my men, however unpleasant, I know I was must uncomfortable when I knew my men could be in danger, but I was unable to anything to aid them."

A quiet hum passed around the table.

"Tell us, Sir Yasyamon…How did you come to be out here in the desert? If it is no bother to you."

"It is no trouble." Yasyamon gave a respectful nod. "It is probably best if you are forewarned. No doubt you know of the war the is presently spreading across our world."

"I'm afraid we have been very isolated as of late." The Elder chuckled darkly. "And our other guests are strangers to this world."

"Forgive me." Yasyamon bowed his head. "Recently, a war has developed between the Sins and the Virtues. It began when the Sin Gluttony, and the Virtue Hope, disappeared."

Rapt attention was paid by those gathered, and Vincent allowed the thoughts to churn in his head as he drew some conclusions. Sin and Virtue, combined with the names given gave implications of the crests that appeared in the TV series, and those assigned to the group known as Demon Lords. If his theory was right, Sin Gluttony would be Beelzemon, meaning there was a lot more taken from this world than simply data.

"Initially, we were in a stand-off as neither side knew who exactly what had happened, or who was responsible. But then MirageGaogomon, the Virtue of Friendship, was attacked and his city was levelled. When answers were pursued, the Sins responded with violence, and since then the war erupted. The citadel under Virtue Reliability, Vikemon, was recently targeted. My Lord, the Virtue Sincerity, sent my Company along with three others to lend support. However, we were completely overwhelmed by the forces of the Sin Pride, and we were forced to flee. My company was escorting survivors and refugees to my Lords Land when a golden Digimon called Grademon attacked us. His attack was interrupted by the sandstorm, and in the confusion, Kotemon and I became separated from the convoy." At this point he turned to look directly at the hive's sovereign. "And now that both Kotemon and myself have fully recovered, we must thank you for your hospitality, but we must also leave now if we are to inform my Lord of Sin Pride's progress, as I fear we may be the next target."

"I understand, Sir Yasyamon." QueenBeemon bowed her head. "Please allow us to provide you with provisions for your journey."

"We shall be in your debt, your Majesty." Yasyamon returned the bow.

"Thank you very much, you Majesty." Kotemon added, his mask sliding back down into its proper place as he bowed.

"And we're going too." Vincent tagged on, drawing stares from everyone that begged explanation. "My priority is to find my missing comrades, and my best chance of doing that lies in exploring this world, and a city is bound to draw them in as it will offer a chance to have sustenance and shelter. Also, I want to continue the work of the Nightmare Soldiers, and that means I'd like to try and get a chance to speak with your Lord." He looked over to Yasyamon.

"I will see what I can do." Yasyamon nodded. "But Sin Pride's forces are likely to continuing pursuing us, it will be a dangerous journey and I cannot guarantee your safety."

"Don't worry!" Komodomon grinned. "With Panzermon as my new subordinate, we'll have plenty of power defend ourselves with."

"Oy! Since when is _my_ partner, _your_ subordinate?" B.B glared at the red lizard.

"Since I made him one." Komodomon began enjoying winding the young boy up. "You can be one too y'know, you have grown a little so I suppose its worth making you one of my followers. Of course, you'll have to call Lupmon 'Aneki.'"

"Like hell I will!"

Chuckles escaped those at the table as the farce continued to rage, while Vincent sighed. It was going to be a long trip.

---

Liz believed that she had found God, and he was Totemmon and his marvellous culinary skills.

Their clothes now cleaned (and certain garments having been swapped) the quartet were seated and sated in the Inn's dining area, only Lupmon had not succumbed to a full stomach and continued to eat the food that was placed before her, though with less of the explosive vigour she had displayed earlier when first fed. The bowels of soup and finely grilled fish (of what variety none of them had known, or had cared to ask) had easily surpassed the berries and mushrooms they had scavenged in the jungle. Sense of reason had fled from the group as the smells of warm food took over their minds and now, basking in their sated hunger, reason and polite conversation began to descend upon their minds again as those who were not stuffing their faces enjoyed cups of tea or coffee. During this time they had exchanged names and told the staff of the inn (those that remained into this late hour) of their story.

"Thank again Mr Totemmon." Tanya smiled.

"One of the best meals ever…" Liz sighed.

"It was alright." Koromon conceded.

"Mmfr-mfff!" Lupmon exclaimed, with a mouthful of bread, holding her soup bowel out, causing the Floramon to laugh before taking it away to re-fill.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Totemmon's second top face smiled, the others seeming to be asleep, for the tall digimon often found that to talk with all his heads in the one conversation was a disconcerting experience for everyone involved. "Now, about your bill."

Totemmon's dozing faces grinned through the spit take three of the four executed.

"I thought that was the case." Totemmon chuckled. "In that case, I have a small proposition for you all. There's a trailway running through our town. We don't often get Trailmon coming through here but they tend to once a month or so. So I was thinking you could all work here, and half your pay would go towards bed and board, while the rest can be saved up for a ticket. There's a large city down the way we sometimes have trade with…I believe it's liable to be the best place for you to find your friends."

There was a moment of thought over this as the offer was considered, and it was Liz who had the first question to ask.

"We won't have to wear those pink skirts will we?"

Totemmon's grin was caused a moan from the white clad girl.

---

**Elsewhere**

Lying upon his back, a blonde man gazed up at the night sky. He was a little perturbed by the silence that surrounded him, but had grown used to it over the past few days of walking and sleeping rough. At the moment, his sight was fixed upon the three moons that hung in the sky, casting their pale light down upon the world below, one pale green, another pale pink, and the last pale blue, they were quite the lovely sight and very different from Earth's shining white sphere.

"I think I'll call them Larry, Curly, and Moe." The man grinned.

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**Raven:**Kudos bar to anyone who figures out who that last guy is.

Ah, gotta love this chapter. I especially love Totemmon, since, well, he's a totem pole. I also love seeing all these little tidbits about the current state of things with everybody in the digital world. It helps everyone sorta figure out where everything is. We also get more information on the war going on, and who all is still around.

Next week (and by next week, I mean whenever we figure out what exactly to do next), we will be getting back to the rest of the Ultimates for the Nightmare Soldiers in the digital world. So stay tuned, stay in school, don't do drugs, and, um…make good music!

**Keyo:** Sincere apologies once again.

This time we're late because I sent Raven and Eight the wrong chapters on Saturday (I actually sent them the beginning of chapter 36.) So here we are.

I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter, I'm a lot more familiar with the NS members, especially those we have in the digital world, so I have an easier time writing for them. Totemmon was a really fun design to come up with, I've had the idea for a digimon like him for awhile now. The basic concept was a digimon orientated towards cooking, rather than fighting, and when I gave the town a western theme I decided that being a totem pole design would be really handy, as it would let him multi-task a lot easier.

I really think this is one of the best chapters I've put together in along time…that didn't involve a kick ass battle.

See you next week.


	36. Chapter 36

**Keyo:** I swear the calendars are wrong, they keep telling me it's Sunday, not Saturday. I'm also telling you that I don't own digimon.

Also, there's a **MESSAGE** at the end. Please read.

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**Chapter 36: **My what big eyes you have! Pt 1

Bad Eggs.

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"Ah, thank you very much me beauty." A Gazimon grinned, tipping his Stetson hat, as he was served his bowel of what Totemmon called 'Giga Gumbo Stew'. Tanya, following the protocol lined out, gave a small courtesy in thanks, shaking a little from her general nerves when having to deal with people, before scurrying back to the bar to collect the next order.

About a week had gone by since she and the others had started their work at Totemmon's Inn. Liz complained less about the uniform after the second day, and they had already managed to integrate themselves well enough into the small community to be greeted cheerily by the clientele. They had also managed to learn a little of the town's way of running, with the Gazimon running the farms and the Betamon fishing in the river. Trade would be made in the large market that lay in the city down the rail road, with Totemmon being the main source of fiscal trade between times. Wild Digimon tended not to bother the village, but they had a sheriff on hand just in case anyway.

"Here you go Tanny, for table 6." Totemmon's lower most head placed a collection of bottles onto Tanya's tray, pulling them from below the bar. Tanya nodded and adjusted to the weight, Totemmon's wooden hand lifting flat a moment too tell her to pause before reaching over and pushing the slipping glasses up her nose, while the head made a note to get them adjusted.

The glasses, a nice horn rimmed affair, were also added to the outstanding bill of the party. There was no good in having a waitress who couldn't see even a single foot in front of her nose, and so, knowing a good chap with nimble claws, Totemmon had the pair commissioned, though they apparently required some modifications before they would fit quite right. Giving her thanks, the girl proceeded to scurry off with the tray, passing her partner as she scribbled down notes upon her notepad.

"Comin' right up!" The young rookie cheered, before scampering off to the counter, leaping up to land perfectly on one of the bar stools, leaning it forward to rest upon the front legs as she thrust the bit of paper towards her employer. "Here ya' goes!"

The wooden hand reached out, pulling the sheet closer to the appropriate head as Totemmon inspected the order, before giving Lupmon a critical glare, the wolf simply gave her doggy smile back.

"Lupmon…how are your writing lessons coming?" The chef asked.

"I can spell my name now." The waitress beamed.

Sighing, Totemmon was forced to draw a verbal recitation from the young digimon to get the order, something that was simple enough given the friendly digimon's memory for meals.

"Peaceful night Totemmon?" A loud brass voice boomed as it's owner strode in through the door.

"Evenin' Sheriff!" The Hawk head waved as the official entered in.

Sheriff Fugamon was a large red digimon who bore a great physical resemblance to Ogremon, though his skin was a deep coppery red rather than green, and the loins and arm wraps he wore bore a tiger print to them, and his hair was a shocking white, the skull and crossbones that should have resided upon his left arm was replaced instead with a star insignia, marking his position within the town. Taking a seat at the bar, he dropped down some coins just as Totemmon dropped the large tankard of ale before him, a well rehearsed practice between the two, as they fell into talk about trade and when the next train would come, Fugamon asking if Totemmon was finally going to take time off to visit the city himself, and receiving the usual declination from the cheery chef and manager.

**Totemmon**

**Level: Champion**

**Type: Data**

**Attacks: **Grand Gourmet

**Fugamon**

**Level: Champion**

**Type: Virus**

**Attacks: **Evil hurricane, Heavy Stick.

Slumped at the small window that looked out on the inn, Liz listlessly held her Digivice in one hand, scanning her temporary employer and the town sheriff. Fugamon was a bit of an oddity to the girl, she couldn't help but think it odd to have a virus type as a figure of law and order, but here he was.

Totemmon was also an oddity. He had explained one night, how he came to evolve into his current form. Explaining his determination to become the greatest chef possible, and with all the training he put into his culinary skills, he was able to evolve into a being capable of great multi-tasking. They had to admit that Totemmon was had a great physical set up for cooking, that went perfectly with his high level of skill.

Drooping back to face into the small, cosy lounge, Liz stared hard at her digivice, thinking of D-Greymon. Like Totemmon, it was a Digimon she'd never heard of before, and she wondered if the holy beast's coming was similar in origin to Totemmon, born from hedr and Agumon's combined will and desires.

"Are you okay Lizmon?"

**Floramon**

**Level: Rookie**

**Type: Data**

**Attacks: **Allergy Shower, Stamen Rope.

Liz clicked the scanner off on her digivice, before slipping it into the pouch on her uniform's frilly white apron.

"I'm fine Floramon." She sighed. "Just feeling a bit restless."

The Floramon giggled and dropped down next to the human girl. The employees of the inn had been able to grasp the concept that Liz and Tanya were not digimon, and therefore didn't have 'mon' in their names, but it seemed to have become an amusing routine for the Floramon to consistently tag it on regardless.

"You really want to get going, don't you?" Floramon asked, her stem like legs dangling off the edge of the couch, swinging in a childish fashion.

Liz gave a stiff nod in return, planting her elbows upon her legs and bringing her arms up and clasping her hands together, resting her chin on outstretched thumbs with her nose pressed against her raised index fingers, gazing out towards the back wall, her sight turned inward.

"My comrades are out there, and they could be in danger. It's not in my nature to sit back when there's a fight." A small grin grew on her face. "Besides, I know one guy out there who'll run himself ragged until he knows that everyone's safe, and someone's gotta keep an eye on him."

"Awww…You sure you don't want to stay here? You guys are good company." Floramon giggled.

"And keep wearing this thing!" Liz exclaimed, indicating the cutesy pink affair with its white lace and frills.

As Floramon exploded into another fit of giggles, another popped her head through the small window.

"Lizmon! Break's over!"

"Alright, alright…" Liz sighed, standing and straightening her skirt out, before snatching up her tray and giving her conversation partner a small wave before heading back out onto the inn floor.

---

"Theese must bee thee place."

A large white egg stomped to a halt, looking down upon the small town with it' houses and fields. A pair of luminous yellow eyes looked out from within a pitch-black darkness, the only thing to be seen through the cracked gap in his shell.

"_He_ was ve-ry insistent about them…to keel them.."

Withdrawing his thick, dinosaur like legs into his shell, the hard boiled digimon let himself roll down the steep hillside, and towards the town.

---

"Thank you, come again!" Koromon chirped, a frilly main tiara upon the small digimon's head in lieu of the full dress. It wasn't exactly something that would help a lifetime of work trying to convince certain colleagues of being masculine in nature.

The issue of effective gender was always somewhat strange to Komodomon, it had never seemed at all relevant. Fighting was the purpose of its creation, and since Digimon didn't have genders, and didn't reproduce, being 'masculine' or 'feminine' didn't seem at all important, it certainly had no impact on the battles they fought. Choosing to be dubbed masculine had, reflection suggested, been simply a reaction against Komodomon and Eight, who proposed femininity, as Liz was a girl. It made some sort of sense, given all the other digimon seemed to support a gender perspective that matched their partners, but agreeing with that pair was just too much to go with. Frankly, Komodomon was happy being an 'it'.

Though, not this 'it'. To be stuck in in-training form was proving too much to put up with. They had been sure that rest and a good meal or two would have given Komodomon the power to digivolve back to Agumon, but so far this hadn't been the case, and so the little data type was stuck limbless and working the most boring, and frustrating job the inn had, being forced to sit and smile and play nice was a torture of the young warrior, and Liz hadn't exactly made leaps in trying to use the Digivice to force evolution.

'When I met you, you were a rookie, I guess I just don't know how to digivolve you that way.' Had been the summery given one night.

'At least while I'm like this I don't have to wear a skirt…' The blob sighed internally, before swapping back into the chirpy smile as another customer approached to settle their bill.

Before being flattened as a large egg exploded through the wall and ran them over before scattering tables like ten-pins as it crashed straight on through the next wall and out onto the street.

"Wh…wha?" Koromon blinked with wide eyes and gaping jaw at the trail of destruction, taking a look back to see a similar line of devastation through the buildings behind the inn, as the egg suddenly spun upright and sprouted a pair of legs to stand.

"Ah-cha-cha-cha…" The egg murmured as it wobbled upon its legs, rather dizzy after its free spin down the hillside and through several houses, its yellow eyes blinking as they regained their focuses and began to scan the area in search of the prey.

"GRAND GOURMET!!!"

The egg was then sent flying by a barrage of blade strokes, hammer cracks, and a massive burst of flame that left his underside scorched. Once more spinning upright, he glared across at Totemmon's narrow figure, the tall wooden digimon had all of his faces glaring in the eggs direction, with each arm wielding a rather vicious looking cooking implement, while smoke filtered from the lizard head that formed his lowest face, a crowd was also forming behind the furious chef.

"Fiend! Villain! Braggart! How dare you attack my inn thus!" The furious chef bellowed.

Unaffected by the yells of the maddened manager, the egg set its round eyes on upon him, bending them slightly in a smiling gesture.

"You're not my target…but I'd be happy to keel you too." The egg spoke in a cheery manner, as if discussing the menu with the chef.

"Totemmon, stand down." Fugamon ordered, stepping forward, placing an arm before the inn owner as he stood to face the vicious egg invader. "Sir, who are you and what do you want?" The wild looking virus asked, keeping his eyes fixed upon the threatening intruder.

"I'm looking for some travellers…I've been told to keel them."

It didn't take any kind of powerful intuition to know that this digimon was dangerous, and so Fugamon opted to play a gambit.

"We have had no travellers pass through here." He lied.

"Don't worry…I can just keel you all for my boss anyway." The egg's eyes arched more in indication of a greater smile, causing Fugamon's eyes to narrow as he adjusted his grip upon his club, entering a full combat stance. It was clear that the egg had no care for authority or justification in his threats, and it seemed likely it was just through lack of care. In a moment, they both moved.

"Nightmare Syndrome!"

"Heavy Stick!"

---

**Digitamamon**

**Level: Ultimate**

**Type: Data**

**Attacks: **Enigma, Nightmare Syndrome, Swing Egg.

Tanya withdrew her eyes from the scanner. She hadn't needed it to know what the digimon before them was, she just wanted to confirm it. Crouched by the window, she wanted to cry out to Fugamon that he was dangerous, that he was stronger, but her voice knotted in her throat. The numbing fear that had struck in the Dokugumon's caves and back in the game world was gripping her again, and she found herself trembling, looking on helplessly as the black mass from within Digitamamon's shell surged forth, crushing the copper ogre into the ground, causing a wail of pain from the virus as his body began to turn ashen grey and inky black as the darkness weighed upon him.

"F…F…" Tanya rasped, trying to call out.

"Koromon!"

"Right!"

Rushing out from the inn, Liz still managed to look very aggressive and fearsome despite the pink skirts and white lace she currently wore, her serving tray being thrown to one side as her partner bounded over the counter and to her side, the humans fist suddenly becoming engulfed in a bright orange energy.

"I ffound you…" Digitamamon turned his eyes upon the charging pair, a sick glee entering his voice.

"And here's your prize!" Liz cried, ripping her digivice from within the pocket of her small apron, sending the orange light surging through.

"Koromon digivolve to…GEOGREYMON!"

With a roar of 'Horn Impulse' the great dinosaur rammed its horned head into the side of the egg, and with a great cry of effort heaved Digitamamon up into the air, freeing the pinned sheriff before throwing the data type away towards the river.

"Hard boiled time." Liz grinned, as the stripes on GeoGreymon's body flashed in sequence towards its horned head before unleashing a torrent of destructive, burning energy.

"Mega Burst!"

The orange stream slammed into the data type, tearing up earth and causing water from the river to boil and froth, or otherwise be cast up upon the shore as a shallow trench began to emerge from the force of the attack, a roar similar to that of a jet engine filled the air before slowly petering out as the attack lost force and GeoGreymon was forced to stop for breath, taking a deep inhale and a sighing exhale as the smoke and dust cleared.

"Yup…there he is." Liz spoke with a sardonic grin as Digitamamon was revealed, a little scorched, but mostly unharmed.

"Baaaaad luck." The egg sang in it's croaky voice.

"Hardly…You've got a level and type advantage over us." A sadistic grin spread over the girl's face. "Of course, we have the advantage in numbers."

Looking beyond the rather noticeable giant orange dinosaur, Digitamamon noticed that not only had the entire contents of the inn filed out onto the street, but even more members of the town had gathered around and were lining up, crackling with the energy that signalled the Gazimon and Betamon charging their attacks. Despite only being rookies, the fact that they numbered at least in the twenties and were all virus attribute certainly meant that when they unleashed their barrage, it would sting something awful.

"Electric Stun Blast!"

"Electric Shock!"

Of course, the pain would only come if they did, in fact, manage to hit.

"Swing Egg!" Digitamamon's legs shot back into his body and the open slots sealed up as he began to spin, twisting his body around to force the narrow point towards the ground as he began to burrow down. True, several attacks managed to strike at his hardened shell, but he was into the ground before any severe damage could be done.

"Where'd he go?" One of the Gazimon growled, flexing his claws as Totemmon helped Fugamon back up.

"Be careful." The Sheriff warned, the grey swathes on his body slowly fading back to copper.

"Nightmare Syndrome!" The egg like digimon burst up through the ground, his eye slot once again open and spewing out the dark substance from within the shell, which swept across a row of the gathered rookies in a deliberate fashion, curving and pursuing some, the yellow eyes still at the front, vicious and glowing. Those who were struck seemed to be swallowed up by the darkness, their bodies going grey as they were pulled in.

"You're mine!" Liz cried, fury in her face as she was thrown forward courtesy of a boost from GeoGreymon's tail, her fist swinging forward as she prepared to deliver a hard blow to the scorched shell, only for pitch black sweep down upon her as the Nightmare Syndrome curved around to strike at the fiery human, causing her to disappear.

"LIZ!" GeoGreymon roared.

"Keep firing!" Fugamon cried, pushing off of Totemmon, his club swinging as the assembled rookies once more opened fire with their attacks, the black wave of Nightmare Syndrome continuing to sweep through their ranks, decimating their numbers.

---

"No…no…nononononononononononono…"

Crouched behind the broken remains of the window, Tanya had pulled her knees to her chest, tears streaming down her face as she shook. I was all going so wrong…they were supposed to have found a bit of peace, they were supposed to simple serve soup and one day soon get on a train and head to the city to find the others…together…

"HOWL BUSTER!"

"Lupmon!" Tanya called, scrambling up to peer through the window again to see her beloved partner out in the fray, still clad in pink skirt and lace, weaving amongst the panicking digimon, staying just ahead of the waves of black as the vicious egg continued to lash out with it's Nightmare Syndrome attack.

"YOU BASTAAARD!" GeoGreymon roared, charging straight for Digitamamon, before being pushed back as the Nightmare Syndrome curved around to slam straight into the large dinosaur, the great beast roaring as dirt was scraped up by its large claws as it was forced back, body turning grey as the attack took effect, talon like hands gripped at the black mass, the claws sinking into the dark and causing a burning cold to run through GeoGreymon's limbs as the grey tone spread.

"Mega…Mega…" GeoGreymon tried to charge, but the crackling lines of electric blue couldn't charge beyond the tail.

"Primal Claw!" Lupmon launched herself onto Digitamamon's back, sitting atop her opponent and continually slamming her claws upon the shell as hard as she could, light clunks rang out, as if the shell was hollow, her claws practically bounced off the hardened shell as the rookie's attacks proved ineffective.

"Swing Egg!" Digitamamon burst into another high speed spin, throwing Lupmon threw the air, and causing the Nightmare Syndrome to swing around, knocking GeoGreymon to the ground and causing it to tear through the surrounding buildings, crashing into some of the handful of remaining digimon before the egg stuck his legs back out, digging into the dirt and directing the black stream straight at the wolf, swallowing her in one shot.

"LUPMON!!!" Tanya's scream pierced the air.

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**Raven:**The one problem with this chapter is that it was our least prepared Ultimate scenario. We knew what we were doing with Panzermon, we know what we're gonna do with our last two Ults, and D.Greymon, we had a good idea but it got edited (in a good way) before we got to it. But this one, we just last week settled on who was gonna be our enemy, and we had a problem figuring out his motive (which, of course, you don't get to know about for a while :P )

And that's all I have to say on the matter. I promise, the next chapter will be worth having to wait in this one. We'll even have a special offer for those of you who think you can understand our thought processes

**Keyo:** Sorry once again for being late…again.

I'm not incredibly happy with this chapter. It just doesn't seem to be written as well as it could be, which seems to be a problem recently. Still, I really enjoyed doing the start, but then again, I got to put my girls in cute waitress uniforms, so that's kind of a given.

I like Digitamamon, I think they are very friendly looking digimon and would love to use them in that context. Here, however, I found that he worked much better to fulfil a certain villainous role.

For Fugamon's role, I wanted a sheriff in the town, but didn't want to use something like Leomon. Given the tiger print, I figured Fugamon fit the area. I also like Ogremon's design and Fugamon also reminds me of Victor from the excellent series Buso Renkin. Check it out!

Small**WARNING** by the way. I may be forced to take a hiatus for the next few weeks in order to catch up on _all_ the work I've been neglecting. I apologise, but I've not done any yet and I really shouldn't be writing this instead. As it is, I've been feeling really stressed working on chapters recently, so taking a small break might help me get my charge back.

See you all next update!

Keyo & Raven 


	37. Chapter 37

She didn't know what she was going to tell her husband, or how

She didn't know what she was going to tell her husband, or how. For years now, Sarah Mills had dreaded the idea of having to explain to her daughter why a man in military uniform had been to their house with her father's things, having to tell her that he had been killed, or captured, or any number of horrible fates that could befall a man in military service, never had she thought she would have to spend one of her too few moments talking with her husband over the phone, telling him how their precious daughter had disappeared without a trace.

"Sarah?"

Startled by the voice, Sarah almost dropped her mug of tea as her boss startled her out of her reprieve. But right now though, Mrs Bradford was here simply as Anna Bradford, an equally terrified mother who really needed to be with someone who knew just how terrified she really was.

"Sorry Sarah…I drifted…" Anna apologised.

"It's okay…"

The silence fell in again, disturbed only by the sipping of coffee, the noise of traffic filtering in from the street below as they sat quietly in Anna's small apartment.

Discussing the current problems seemed pointless, each knew as much as the other, and they had both spoken with the police and FBI numerous times, and neither could escape the news reports. Mass disappearances across the globe, thousands missing.

But neither mother could honestly admit to caring about the thousands, their hearts only bled for their own.

Tanya…

Bobby…

"They'll be okay…" Anna practically muttered the words as she gazed into her cup.

"They'll be okay…" Sarah repeated, equally unsure.

--

DIGIMON - Of Blood and Binary.

Chapter 37: My what big eyes you have! Part 2!

Like the moon, she will shine in the darkest of nights!

--

"LUPMON!" Tanya wailed from the battered restaurant, watching in horror as the vicious egg consumed her beloved partner, the inky force of the Nightmare Syndrome attack slid back into the hard armoured shell as the glowing eyes appeared once more, curved in presentation of a smile.

"Such a good haul…thee boss will bee pleased."

"Lupmon…" Tanya uttered, sinking to her knees as Digitamamon broke into a fit of self-satisfied giggles, "I've been a good, good boy."

"Ba…bastard…" GeoGreymon growled, the large dinosaur was slowly regaining colour after surviving the latest brush with Digitamamon's primary offence, but still felt exhausted.

"Let's see, let's see…" Digitamamon sang, sweeping his fluorescent eyes around the remains of the towns populace. "I think I'll pick some flowers!"

Once more, the darkness that lay within Digitamaon's shell lunged forward, sweeping out towards the battered inn, causing the Floramon and Tanya to cry out as the great shadow loomed towards them, only to stop short as Totemmon threw himself in the way of his staff, all of his arms raised in a defensive posture as he held the darkness back, the colour slowly sapping from his body.

"Run…" His heads managed to gasp, each out of time with the other, as his staff took the advice and began to scamper, pulling along any stragglers as the shadow succeeded in swallowing up the chef and resumed sweeping after the waitresses, swallowing up those who were too slow.

Throwing herself across the floor, Tanya covered her head with her hands as she quivered, sobbing, beneath a table, wishing for it all to go away. She couldn't take it, she wanted to be back home, just having fun playing the game…Lupmon, Liz, everyone was…

A roar startled her, looking up she could see GeoGreymon once more in the shadows grip, fading away, being drawn into the darkness to be imprisoned with the others.

It was all going wrong…

--

It was all going _so_ well. The egg could practically sing as he took his time to roll the prone bodies of the villagers into heaps. Truly, his Nightmare Syndrome was a magnificent attack. The dark miasma still hung heavy in the air, poisoning the minds of the village and leaving them all catatonic, trapped within a personal nightmare. To use it on so many people at once meant the nightmares were a little generic, but no-one had a strong enough will to break out, or even realise what was going on.

And it was true, all about the villagers lay, looking as if asleep and trapped in a nightmare, fighting away against an unstoppable opponent. He wasn't too sure which were the ones his boss wanted, but he figured he wouldn't mind them all being brought along, new lab rats were always appreciated.

It's all going _egg-sactly_ to plan.' The egg chuckled at his own joke as he waded into the inn and began nudging around the unconscious bodies of he waitresses. Though theeese would bee faster if I had hands…'

A growl suddenly asserted itself to the eggs senses, and with a weary sigh, he looked up to see the battered form of Lupmon glaring at him from through the hole the wall. Her dress was ripped and torn from the prior clashes she'd had with the egg. Scowling, Digitamamon looked over at the wolf like Digimon, who had persisted in resisting the effects of Nightmare Syndrome. While all the town lay asleep, she still stood, throwing herself again and again at the ultimate level opponent. He thought that his last attack had buried her.

"Rrrrr….let….Tanya…rrr…go…" The Vaccine growled, her pupils fine slits, barely clinging to her sanity as she glared at her enemy, her whole body quivering as she prepared to attack. While she was not facing a virus type, the oppressive force of the miasma created by the Nightmare Syndrome attack had triggered her destroyer instincts, her feral state preventing the Nightmares from taking a hold of her.

"Why…why won't you sleeeeep?" Digitamaon hissed.

"Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrannyaaaaaa!!" Lupmon howled as she catapulted herself towards the egg, claws pushed forward to strike as she unleashed her Primal Claw attack, bouncing harmlessly off of the hardened shell, before being driven through one of the standing walls as Digitamamon rushed forward, tackling her through the wood. With splinters tearing off more of the pink waitress uniform, Lupmon rolled with the blow, skidding across the ground once she was outside and springing back to her feet.

"Howl Buster! Howl Buster! Howl Buster!" She bellowed, releasing blast after blast to bounce harmlessly off of the shell.

"Nightmare Syndrome!" Digitamamon called, summoning the Miasma in the air to focus upon Lupmon, surrounding her in a dark cloud as he mentally pushed for her to fall into the troubled slumber. With the will power she was displaying, he was sure that she was one of the ones who he had been sent to destroy, the problem was his offensive abilities weren't very impressive, so, in order to crush her head underfoot with the utmost ease, he needed to get her to _sleep!_

"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!" The wolf roared to the sky as the vicious miasma crashed upon her.

--

What was that?'

A cry of some kind shook the girls soul, seeming to come from all around. Looking up from where she hid, she was forced to blink for a moment as the world seemed to have frozen. Digitamaon had Fugamon pinned, and the remaining Floramon were cowering about, then things jumped forward a little, then froze again, like when a scratched DVD starts to jump.

"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! Raaaaaaaaaaaaannyaaaaaaaaaaa!!"

"Lupmon?" Tanya's voice trembled, but she was so sure she'd heard her partner.

"Raaaaaaaaaaannyaaaaaa!!"

For a moment, the world flickered before Tanya, as if waking from a dream, everything was fuzzy but she could just make out Lupmon, wrapped in darkness and in so much pain.

"Raaaaaaaaaanyaaaaaaaaaaa!!"

"LUPMON!" Tanya cried, and everything went black.

--

Slowly, her eyes flickering open, Tanya awoke upon the ground. Around her lay the other waitresses and before her was Digitamamon, and a thick haze of shadowy air, a dark miasma, that contained her partner.

Had she…been dreaming?

As Lupmon cried out again, she decided that now wasn't the time to be pondering that. Scrabbling to her feet, she got ready to…to…to do she didn't know what. She wasn't strong and brave like Liz was; she'd frozen up before. Liz! That was it! Looking around the unconscious bodies that littered the town, she was quickly able to find her companion, lying as part of a heap that the vicious digimon had gathered up. All she had to do was wake the girl up, she she'd know what to do. She could be that brave, couldn't she?

Mentally willing herself forward, Tanya crept out of the shattered inn and towards the heap of bodies. In her mind, she chanted stealthy words like a mantra, quiet as a mouse, quiet as a mouse' as she trod slowly along, trying to keep from flinching every time Lupmon cried out, and froze in her tracks as Digitamamon suddenly turned to face her.

"I seee you." The egg grinned in a sing song voice, causing the girl's breath to catch in her throat as she gazed up at the vicious poultry product.

Sheee woke up.' Digitamamon cursed himself. I pushed too much focus on that stu-pid pup.'

The fluorescent eyes widened for a moment as he remembered the torturous and resilient rookie, realising that he had shifted too much of his attention to the awake girl as the miasma behind him began to disperse, allowing Lupmon to launch forward again at his back, settling on top of the egg and pounding out blows with her Primal Claw attack, desperately trying to break through.

"Geeeeet off!" Digitamamon bellowed. "Swing Egg!" Retracting his stubby legs, Digitamamon launched into a high speed spin, sending the wolf flying off and into her partner, the two tumbling along the grassy ground before coming to a stop with the wolf on top of the scrawny girl.

"Tanya…" Lupmon gasped, thoroughly exhausted. "Bad eggy make you sleep…I was scared…I try to make him go away to wake you up…is bad eggy gone now?"

Looking up at her partner, Tanya could see that the poor dear was near to passing out from fatigue, her body was battered and her eyes were struggling to remain open.

"Oh Lupmon!" Tanya sobbed, wrapping her arms around her partner. She'd been fighting despite the odds, despite being scared, despite being…alone. That wasn't how it was meant to be, they were meant to fight together.

"Time for sleee-eeep." Digitamamon sang, stalking towards the prone pair. "Nightmare syyn-drome."

The miasma began to descend on the two, seeping out from within the egg and Tanya could feel her eyelids becoming heavy again, threatening to pull her back into the dream of that hopeless battle. Funny…' She thought. It's not that different from reality…'

She then hissed through clenched teeth as pain cut into her arm, shaking off the sleep that was threatening to consume her. Looking down, she could see that Lupmon's claw had cut into her arm as the wolf growled and once more struggled to fight against the effects of the attack, despite her exhaustion.

"Don't…wanna…" Lupmon panted. "Won't…let…you…hurt…Tanya!"

"SLEEP!" Digitamamon bellowed, kicking Lupmon and sending her sprawling. "Why. Won't. You. Sleep!" Each word was punctuated with either a kick or a stomp, causing Lupmon to cry out in pain, as her already worn body was beaten more and more, still clinging firmly to consciousness.

"Stop it…" Tanya murmured, trying to pull herself up. "Leave Lupmon alone…" There wasn't, she realised, going to be a rescue, she had to save Lupmon herself…she had to. "Lup-mon…" She couldn't sleep, Lupmon needed her. "Lupmon." She needed to help her partner. "LUPMON GET UP!" She cried; blue light surrounding her body as her digivice, tucked away with the folds of her apron, began to bleep in loud and furious tones.

"What?" Digitamamon called, startled, as he turned to face the very awake Tanya, who had now risen to her feet, surrounded by blue flames of light as she scrabbled for the round device, pulling it triumphantly out from the aprons pocket.

"Leave us alone!" She cried, the blue light suddenly pouring into the machine, words appearing upon the small LCD like screen as they were pulled forth from the girl's mouth. "ULTIMATE! EVOLUTION!"

An identical blue light erupted around Lupmon, toppling her opponent and dispersing the miasma that filled the area as new strength flooded Lupmon and purified the air.

"LUPMON DIGIVOLVE TO…OZLYKIOMON!!"

The shell of light was swept away in a twister like fashion, accompanied on its vanishing trip skyward by a lout howl, leaving only Lupmon's new form in its place.

Steam seemed to flow from her body as the warm air became visible as it ran against her cold body, a great obsidian wolf at least twice the size of Lykiomon, with sleek obsidian fur, bearing a white crescent that began on her forward left leg and arced around to settle on her back left leg. White rocks studded her body, their varying sizes and rough shapes gave the appearance of stars upon a living night sky, an effect only enhanced by her pearl white eyes and teeth. The long antenna of hair remained, but was now pulled into a sort of triangular arc, the edge looking to be razor sharp.

**OZLYKIOMON**

**Level: Ultimate**

**Type: Vaccine**

**Attacks: **Harvest Moon, Dark Side, Lunar Wail.

OzLykiomon felt calm…it was strange. The will and drive to fight were still very much there, but she was much more aware of the world around her than she normally was when a battle started. Her fur still bristled in the readiness for battle, but it was as if a soothing hand had been placed upon her back to keep her from loosing her focus completely. It felt…good.

Tanya didn't feel afraid anymore. She was still very aware of the danger of their current scenario, and of the odds stacked against them, but it was as if someone had pushed her fears to the back of her mind, to exist as a simple consideration of the consideration, like a confidence not of her own had entered her body. Looking down at the digivice in her hand, both still shrouded in a faint blue glow, she wondered…had Liz felt something like this when Agumon became D-Greymon?

"EGG SWING!"

With a howling moan, OzLykiomon was suddenly knocked flying as Digitamamon, in a rapid spin, crashed into the wolf. Calling out, Tanya collapsed to her knees as a blunt pain shocked her body.

Wh…what the hell?' She wondered, gasping on the ground.

Looking up, she could see OzLykiomon just getting back to her feet as Digitamamon, spinning like a top, came in for another attack.

"LEFT!" Tanya called, alerting her partner to the incoming attack. Without looking, OzLykiomon responded on instinct and faith, coiling her body and springing in the given direction, her body curling up as she began to rush straight at the egg.

"HARVEST MOON!"

With her body curled, her whole mass came under the shelter of the bladed antenna, as a rapid spin began, turning the wolf into a kind of circular saw. In a burst of light, the stones on her body shone, as if soaking up sunlight and in an instant her fur became bright white as her speed seemed to implausibly increase as the she shot forward, resembling very much the bright moon of her name sake, and collided with the spinning egg. Sparks flew as the blades grated against the armour of the shell, before Digitamamon's stability was compromised and he went tumbling off to one side, causing OzLykiomon to rocket forward, dropping out of her attack to skid along the ground as her fur returned to it's normal ratio of black to white.

"Uniuniuni." Digitamamon chuckled as he got up. "That wasn't too bad. But, eeet wasn't eeenough."

Looking at the vicious egg, Tanya almost gasped. His shell was barely even scratched, looking back to her partner she could see a lot of rough scuff marks along the antenna blades, so much so that some spots looked almost blunted.

"Among thee ul-tee-mit digeemon, I am known for having thee strongest deeefence!" Digitamamon gloated. "Pale yolks like you don't have a chance." His eyes curved upward into the creepy arc of a self-satisfied smile. "I weeel win. E-Nig-Ma!"

With a shimmer, Digitamamon suddenly began to multiply, copies of himself arcing out to form a large semi-circle around Ozlykiomon.

"Uniuniuni!" Digitamaon cackled. "Nightmare Syndrome isn't my only trick!" The eggs jeered. "E-Nig-Ma allows me to create as many copies of myself as I want, but of course, only one of them is the reeaaal me! Uniuniuniuniuni…"

"It's that one!" Tanya suddenly pointed straight at the genuine article.

"What?" The Digitamamon only took on the same shocked expression. "H-how did you know!?"

"Well, while you did create a lot of copies, you stayed in the same place. Also, when you spoke, you were the only one to make a sound." Tanya explained, slightly embarrassed while leaving the egg looking rather depressed before Tanya snapped back into the fight. "Quick, get him OzLykiomon! Use Dark Side!" Tanya instructed, and OzLykiomon responded, the white crescent of fur, and all white points upon her body turned to the obsidian black as the wolf launched herself forward, the steam around her body suddenly intensifying.

"DARK SIDE!" She cried, obeying the command of her partner, as she became a black blur, leaving a trail of ice in her wake. It began merely as a comet tail of crystals in the air, but then became spikes imbedded in the ground as ground and air began to freeze around the wolf. Striking against the startled egg, she bowled him over and left him imprisoned within a miniature glacier.

Heh, I was right.' Tanya practically smiled to herself. OzLykiomon seems to have a really low body temperature, and with the moon motif, a name like Dark Side had to have some relation to making things colder, given the sub-zero temperatures on the dark side of the moon. When I'm like this…' She looked down at her dimly glowing self. thinking is so much easi…er…' Sagging, Tanya suddenly became aware of the fatigue settling on her body, before the memory of the exhausted Liz came to mind. The ultimate stage must have a sever drain on the human body too…we have to stop this now! I just hope I was right about the last attack too…'

"OzLykiomon, listen. Use Lunar Wail on the ice!"

"Rrrright Ranya!" The wolf growled, once again back to the black and white mix as she began to inhale.

Lupmon's always had a wind based attack.' Tanya thought. But a name like Wail' means it's likely have some kind of sound element as well. I'm right, this should…'

"LUNAR…WAIL!"

The last part of wail' surged into a high note as OzLykiomon released the devastating howl, the stones on her body vibrating along with the attack, causing Tanya's ears to ring in pain as they amplified the noise all around. But that was nothing compared to what the ice and Digitamamon experienced. Lowering her head back down, the antenna of hair stood up straight, becoming a sort of tuning fork as the howl became a focused stream of sound, the antenna vibrating fiercely as they acted as both director and amplifier. With a mighty crash, the ice shattered and Digitamamon tumbled out, and lay prone upon the ground, deep cracks decorating his shell as he moaned in pain.

"H…how?" He gasped. "Y…you broke my shell…"

"Just a little science." Tanya modestly confessed to her foe. "Even the strongest of metals can become brittle in extreme cold, and the ice also made a great resonator. So with your shell weakened, and the Wail's effect amplified…well…" She drifted off, nervously scratching at the back of her head as OzLykiomon crouched growling, awaiting further instruction. This, the wolf remembered was how they fought best. Tanya was smart, while she was strong; it was what made them so great a team. "Now please," the human girl begged, "stop fighting and wake everyone up. I don't want to fight."

"Oh…Oh-kay…" The data typed gasped, pulling himself upright, the action causing a string of grunts and moans of pain as he toppled into a standing position. "I…I surrender. I'll remove the nightmares…" As Tanya gave a sigh of relief, she missed the broken bits of shell quiver. "DREAM EATER!"

A chill ran up Tanya's spine as the dark miasma that hung in the air suddenly began to move. In a great swirl, it all began pouring into the Digitamamon, who shuddered and cackled his Uniuni' laugh.

"Wh…what is this?" Tanya gasped.

"This is a speeeci-al treeaaat my boss gave to meee." Digitamamon laughed. "It lets meee dee-vour all theee lovely nightmares stored in my miasma! And grow…" There was gut wrenching cracking noise as the majority of the shell shattered, allowing the darkness within to pour out, angular limbs sprouting like branches from the shadowy mess as Digitamamon's new form towered over the pear, and as he spoke, his voice had dropped much deeper. "STRONGER! NIGHTMARE SYNDROME!"

The arms lashed out fast, grabbing onto OzLykiomon and pulling her into the air, the long spindly fingers began to melt and blend, wrapping and smothering the wolf as she struggled.

"It's no good! Soon you will be trapped in theee foulest of Nightmares!" The egg jeered. "I'm sure my boss won't mind if I break your mind a leetle! Uniuniuniuniuni-UGH!"

"Geh…it's like punching tar…" A voice, tempered with irritation and suppressed rage spoke out.

"LIZ!" Tanya cheered.

"What! How did you wake up?" Digitamamon bellowed, a yellow sphere of an eye appearing before the girl, her fist still lodged in the darkness as the orange flames over ran her body.

"Heh…Luppy woke me up with that noise she was making. Now…" Pulling her hand free, the temporary waitress and private in the Nightmare Soldier private, revealed her digivice. "I think it's our turn again. LET'S GO, ULTIMATE EVOLUTION!"

"What?" Digitmamon brought another eye up as a bellowing roar went out. GeoGreymon was awake again too, and charging straight at the black monstrosity, orange light surrounding the beast as evolution took place.

"GeoGreymon Digivolve to…D-GREYMON!"

"Nightmare Syndrome!" Digitamamon cried, shadowy arms lunging for the divine beast.

"Cursed Innocence!" D-Greymon responded, propelled forward by mighty wings, the great silver arm flared up and tore through the shadows, piercing into the main body itself, causing Digitamamon to release an unearthly wail, his grip on OzLykiomon vanishing as the wolf was allowed to drop to the ground.

"Heh…looks like it wasn't just your shape that changed." Liz smirked, aiming her Digivice at the altered Digimon.

**DIGITAMAMON**

(Nightmare Mode)

**Level: Ultimate+**

**Type: Virus**

**Attacks:** Nightmare Syndrome, Swing Egg, Enigma.

"Now that you're a virus…we have the type advantage." Liz's smirk became sinister. "So say good bye."

"Harvest Moon!" OzLykiomon cried, whipping herself once more into the buzz saw as D-Greymon backed her up.

"Cross Fire!" Wings spread wide, the divine beast unleashed the purifying flames, the blast surrounding the spinning wolf and creating a torrential force that raced straight for Digitamamon.

"Wait!" Tanya cried, but too late as the dual attack tore straight through, obliterating the main body as what was left became consumed by silver fire, Digitamamon wailing in agony as what remained burned away, the stray data floating into the air before being absorbed by D-Greymon until all that was left was a blackened spot upon the ground. There was then a flare of light as D-Greymon and OzLykiomon suddenly shrank back down, and Liz and Tanya found their legs practically disappearing from beneath them as all the strength just went out as their lights faded.

"Damn…guess I wasn't as recharged as I…" Liz started before fainting.

"You didn have to…" Tanya began, but swiftly too found herself in a dark, dream free sleep.

--

**Raven: **(walks in to dusty office, throwing down a suitcase and turning on the lights before opening the intercom)

Eve! Erase all our answering machine messages and hold all our calls! We've got Authoring to do!

So yeah, sorry for the delay folks. We've been real busy doing…um…important stuff…like…world domination! Yeah, totally been getting ready to overthrow the world and stuff. We've also been raising gas prices for you folks in America. We need the funding for our plot to take over the world. But don't worry folks, we should be back to stay!

For any of you who might have remembered my notes from the last chapter (or for those of you who feel like being smart-alecs and hitting the "previous chapter button"), you might remember I had a contest set up for this chapter. I still intend to offer it, so without further ado, I announce the first "Name That Reference" contest! We're awarding a cameo to anyone who can correctly guess how we came up with the name "OzLykiomon". You must give a full reason for why, including any indirect links it might have. I'm rather proud of this name, so that's why I'm offering a cameo to anyone who can get the answer exactly correct.

That being said, I'll end these notes saying that it's good to be back, and…have you seen Dynasmon X? Holy crap that guy is awesome!

**Keyo:** (settles back into his chair and hits the intercom)

'Eve, believe it or not I've got filing work that needs to be done.'

Mien gott it is good to be able to slap a new chappie up again! And look! It's on time! If you don't count the several months of inactivity…

I never intended the hiatus to take this long, it was meant to be a two-week gap, but then I had essay after essay and then exams. Ugh…In the end, I think it did worse for me to stop writing than if I had kept going, it seemed to help me remain in some kind of state of organization.

This chapter panned out really well actually. Though it led to Eight pointing out that I mistyped Lupmon's attribute waaaaaaaaay back in chapter 1 as Data rather than Vaccine, so I'll be fixing that at some point.

Initially, I was really unhappy with how the 'Bad Egg' story was going, largely because I botched the first part and didn't do enough character development for the town. The battle was also a bit dodgy to me and I was having a hard time enjoying it. Then I got the idea for changing how Nightmare Syndrome worked and I was able to work out a nice win for OzLykiomon.

Well, see you all next week (I've already started on 38.) and take care.

WE'RE BACK!!

**Eve:** (sits at her desk and begins sorting files.)

What? I'm a muse and secretary, and an imaginary one at that. I have fictional papers to file.

**KEYO & RAVE (& EVE)**


	38. Chapter 38

"I'm a terrible Father

**Keyo: **Apologies for being so late, even so, we still don't own Digimon. Notes after the story.

--

"I'm a terrible Father."

"No Brian, you're not."

Placing his head against the window of his office, Brian Reeve scrunched up his eyes, refusing to take in the view of New York the window offered him, focusing instead on the conversation with his sister in-law, the phone pressed to his ear, conversing with her from hundreds of miles away.

"I'm never there Lisa." The man sighed. "If I had been there then maybe…"

"He's one of so many." Lisa comforted, keeping down her own feelings about her missing nephew. "They all just…disappeared."

"There's so much that I should have done with him, if I never get to see him…"

"Then do your job." She asserted as gently as she could. "Vincent never cried about your being away, because he knew what you did was important. And right now, you've got to help everyone is missing. So hurry…" There was a pause and Brian sighed, he could hear her struggling to hold herself together. He wasn't there for her either…

"Look after the girls, Lisa." He told her, pulling something of a smile to his face. "Don't worry, we'll get him back." He could here her sniffle a bit as she got herself together. Good.

Looking out the window, Brian took in the night-lights of New York. He had a meeting in a few minutes; he'd have to get going. He doubted anything would be settled, it so rarely was, and he would have to be ready, again, to deal with pointless accusations and arguments. The council could be so inept some times. A knock broke his reprieve.

"Ambassador?" The guard poked his head in.

"Alright…"

--

Of Blood and Binary

**Chapter 38: **Pursued!

Life or Death Ghost Town!

--

Clustered in among the rocks, the small group of human and Digimon sat, nestling together to keep warm. Despite having left the freezing nights of the desert, the rocky mountains did not provide much more in the way of warmth when the sun set. It had taken a good few days to cross out of the desert, and they had just finished their first walking along the improvised paths that wound their way through the mountain range. Despite being provided with enough provisions to last them a good two weeks, living off of only honey comb and water was proving exceedingly wearing, even those who admitted to possessing a sweet tooth were aching for something a little different.

"I think I'm developing tooth-ache." Bobby pined, touching at his teeth, wincing, a little as he did.

"Ugh…I know what you mean." Komodomon contributed, nursing his own jaw.

"You guys need to train more." Kotemon chuckled. "If you went through rigorous training like Yasyamon and me, then a little pain in your teeth wouldn't oh…" There was a burst of laughter from the group as Kotemon sullenly rubbed at his helm, unwilling to remove it, but unable to resist the urge to tend to his pain.

"Don't worry. As soon as we're able to get a variety of ingredients, and a fire, I'll cook us all something good." Vincent beamed from where he sat on his own atop one of the rocks, his blanket pulled tight around his body.

"Ah, that's right." Komodomon nodded. "You always promised that the day our worlds crossed you'd cook me a fantastic meal."

"So Vincent-san can cook?" Kotemon questioned.

"At least he's always boasted so." Komodomon resumed his sage nodding, before going into all the details of the various foods his partner had described to him in the past, leading to Yasyamon chuckling over his apprentice's overly eager body language and the sound of him controlling his salivation

"Hey Vincent, what are you looking at up there anyway?" BB called up to his commanding officer.

"The desert," the youth responded, nodding back at the way they had come, "and the sky."

"Why?" BB cocked his head. "We just spent days in that hell hole, and we've got starry skies back home."

"I know." Vincent sighed. "But now that we're not stuck there, I can actually appreciate the sand, how it looks like a rolling sea of platinum in the moon light…well, as far as I can see it." The boy chuckled before looking up. "And the sky…it's not at all like ours. I mean, we don't know the universe of the digital world is like ours, those stars could be anything! And we certainly don't have three visible moons back home either."

"You're just a tad weird, you know that, right?" BB quirked a brow at the older boy.

"No. That's just part of the adventurer spirit." Komodomon, having finished with his talk of food, found another topic to nod sagely about. "An adventurer can't help but be awed by the new and seeks to bask in its beauty, from different skies to buried treasure, we live for it all."

"So why aren't you up there too?" BB asked.

"Because I'm a freakin' Lizard, and I ain't freezing my ass off for no sky."

"Wuss!" Vincent shouted down as laughs once again broke out.

"Just don't come crying to me when you catch pneumonia." His partner retorted.

--

A clawed paw gently touched at the sand before a yellow muzzle descended, sniffing at the granules. Pointed ears twitched slightly as the Digimon processed the information her senses were providing her with information regarding her prey. An armoured clunk sounded behind her as she rose, before turning and crouching again, this time kneeling, before her superior.

"Hmph. Well?" The armoured warrior asked, wrapped in his royal blue cloak.

"We're still on track, Master." The Digimon supplied, her tail held up carefully to avoid disturbing the scant remains of their quarry's tracks, and to avoid being seen as at all disrespectful to the powerful Digimon.

"Hmph. Excellent. I will soon cleanse that mark of failure Rapidmon has stained our unit with. Lead on Renamon."

"As you wish, sir."

Rising again, the humanoid fox took off at a dash along the sand, her light steps not once disturbing the sand as she moved, and as she followed the trail, her master followed her.

--

The morning sun cast its rays upon the rocky gully as the travellers awoke, the light revealing the red stone they rested against. To be fair, only two of the travellers were awake, and were presently waking up the others, an activity which Kotemon was taking some sadistic glee in as he poked at BB and Komodomon with the end of his bamboo shinai.

"C'mon, c'mon." He chuckled as BB and Komodomon jointly dug deeper into their blankets. "We get up twice as early as this when training! Stop being lazy!"

"I'm not lazy, I'm a lizard." Komodomon defended. "I'm always slow to start in the mornings until I heat up…"

"Oh…you want to heat up do you?" Kotemon's glowing eyes bent up to represent a grin as he adopted a combat stance, flames suddenly erupting around the bamboo blade. "Hot!" He raised the weapon above his head.

"Kotemon. What did I tell you about acting responsibly?" Yasyamon scolded gently, as he finished donning his cloak.

"Yes Sensei…" The short Kendoist sighed, the flame dispersing as he returned, sheathing the shinai in the pair of loops upon the back of his armour.

"Good to see…" A large yawn punctuated Vincent's speech. "…some of us are morning people." Stretching his jaw a bit, Vincent resumed packing away the blankets into the large canvas bag the Honeybeemon had provided them with. "C'mon you two." Vincent sighed as he rose, and proceeded to grasp the blankets of his subordinate and partner and give a sharp pull, resulting in a miniature tug of war as the pair put up resistance. "That's…an…order!" He grunted, suddenly falling back as the blankets were released and he crashed down upon the ground, Komodomon and BB snickering at their toppled superior.

"Kaiser, that wasn't very nice," Capmon attempted to chide.

"But it was funny," BB grinned, Komodomon nodding alongside him.

"And at least I got the blankets." Vincent grinned as he proceeded to pack them away, exaggerated aws' sounding from the lizard and youth.

"Are we ready, Vincent-san?" Yasyamon asked.

"All…" A small grunt, as the boy struggled with the sip for a few moments. "…done!" With a bit of a heave-ho', the teen swung the bag around and over his shoulder. "Let's go!"

Grumbling at being forced into motion at a dawn hour, Komodomon and BB fell into line, the young boy scooping up the practical metal block that was his partner as he went, carrying the in-training Digimon in the crook of his arm. Following the dusty trail through the mountains, Yasyamon led the way, referencing a map every so often so as to check their progress. Light conversation was bantered around as questions were asked, in polite enough fashion, about the respective lives of the group's members.

"Tsuyunoinochi, our home, is one of the most prosperous cities on the continent," Yasyamon explained. It is famed both for it's military power and it's grand festivals."

"If I remember rightly," Komodomon tapped at his chin, "festivals have a lot of food at them right?" The I' sound was pulled to a higher note by the smile the rookie wore.

"Oh yes," Kotemon chirped. "All the chefs in the city pitch in and one massive table is set up along the main street, covered in food of every variety conceivable, rice dishes, pork dishes, salads, fish, cake, and ice-cream, Tsuyunoinochi."

"Wow, Su-noi-no…Su-na…" BB scowled.

"Heh heh," Komodomon chuckled, slipping into his all-knowing finger point pose'. "It's Su-yum-nochi…uh…" The all knowing finger point pose, became a rather baffled chin tap. "Uh…"

"Su-yun-oi-noch-ee," Kotemon pronounced the phonetic.

"Su-yun-oi-nochy."

"Sun-yu…"

"Su-yun-oi…oi…"

BB and Komodomon battled with the word, faces twisting in the effort of pronunciation, much to the amusement of the others.

Su-yun-oi-noch-ee, Kaiser," Capmon perfectly recited, hoping to help his partner, but earning only a scowl.

"Yeah well," BB's mind searched for a justification, "you're part machine, of course you can get it easy."

Turning to walk backwards, Vincent smiled at the pair.

"Su-yun-oi-noch-ee." He grinned. "First time! So what's my excuse BB?"

First time…' The boy and lizard thought in irritation as they hung their heads at their defeat, Vincent giving a wink before turning to walk forward again.

"I heard you practicing it under your breath, Vincent-san," Yasyamon leaned in and whispered.

"I rarely get to pull one over on them," Vincent chuckled.

"I understand completely," Yasyamon nodded, looking back at his pupil, and the two shared a smirk as they carried on.

With various incorrect efforts to say Tsuyunoinochi' echoing behind them, Yasyamon and Vincent consulted the map as they walked.

"According to the map, there's a station town up ahead." The swordsman lowered his arms to allow his human companion a look.

"Hm…but the question is, is it still there?" The teen glanced at the dusty road. "According to the map this is meant to be a trade route, but it's been dead ever since we started along it."

"True, especially since it seemed to be intended to go to the HoneyBeemon hive," Yasyamon added.

"Which means TyrantKabuterimon may have made this into a part of his territory too." Vincent took on a slightly grave look.

"We'll keep sharp." Yasyamon, while his face was hidden, his eyes seemed to share a very similar look. "Stuck watching our backs and fronts."

"Which would be easier if they were quiet," Vincent nodded back.

"SU-YUN-OI-NOCH-EE!!" BB cried out in jubilation. "I got it first! In your face! In your face!" He chanted at Komodomon.

"As your Aniki, your successes are my successes, so in your face!" The lizard returned.

"You're not my Aniki!" BB cried back, and the tired argument began again.

"Clearly, you lack discipline," Kotemon chided. "Unlike I, Kotemon, Tsuyunoinochi Samurai!"

"I'm truly sorry," Both Yasyamon and Vincent sighed to the other in perfect unison.

--

"Whoa…"

What was clearly once a small town lay in long abandoned ruin. The remains of the wooden buildings had been worn down by years of abuse at the hands of the dusty mountain winds, if they were lucky. If they were unlucky, the storms that plagued mountain ranges had led to them being swept away in waves of water. A depressing air settled over the group, it was hard to be jovial when the despair created by TyrantKabuterimon lay before them. Vincent had seen Ruins before, those in the real world were ancient, considered now a site of historical interest and beauty, always filled with tourists thinking how interesting it all was, and he and Komodomon had both ventured through many virtual ruins in the game, always focusing on the great treasure that lay hidden within. It occurred now to the boy, the feeling of melancholy the filled places like these, of life swept away and left barren. The town's destruction was certainly much more recent than those of the centuries old castles that lay in pieces back home, the only thing that still stood straight was the long line of train tracks that rose from a hole in the ground, rising vertically into the sky before taking a roller coaster like turn into the mountains.

"To ensure they couldn't be recaptured, the army destroyed each castle they conquered…" The teen muttered.

"What was that, Vincent-san?" Kotemon asked, looking up.

"Hm? Nothing really. Just a reference to something from my world's history."

"Such a sight is not too uncommon in lands at war." Yasyamon began to move, his feet padding softly on the dust covered ground. "I want to check to see if the trail line is still operating." There was a collective movement to follow the kendoist before he suddenly froze and raised an arm, directing them to do the same, and then made a small indication towards his ears. Glancing at the terrain, the group tried to hear what Yasyamon had, and slowly the clicks and hisses made themselves known, as they grew more and more intense.

"Oh you are kidding me!" BB exclaimed as the slick, beetle like creatures began to crawl out of the remains of the building.

"Y'know…I never really got to fight last time…" Kotemon sounded almost excited as he drew out his shinai.

"Heh." Komodomon cracked his knuckles. "The bastard's just got to keep leaving these things lying around…I suppose it helps ya vent a little. Eh, Vincent?"

Looking at the drones as they clambered out and around, Vincent wondered how these ones had survived here all this time. Had they preyed on those who came to investigate the fate of the village, or try to reach the hive? Maybe they had even attacked the trains that came through here…

TyrantKabuterimon…

"Tear em' apart." The words came from his mouth, harsh and cold. He couldn't keep the personal hate for them out, and his troops were almost too happy to obey.

"Capmon digivolve to…"

--

"Hmph. What is it Renamon?" The cloaked warrior paused, looking to where his scout stood perched upon a tall rock.

"I can hear the sounds of battle," The rookie spoke in an almost whimsical tone, her ears twitching in response to the distance sounds of conflict. "Can you not hear it, Sir?"

"Hmph. My pride is in fighting, not snooping," The warrior grumbled. "Get us there quick and we may actually join the blasted thing.

--

Back-stepping in a fashion that could almost be dubbed nimble, Vincent evaded another lunge from the frustrated drone, before skipping back another few steps as it attempted once more to dig its pincers into him. Cloak fluttering with his motions, he took one more move back, and as the drone came forward, it was promptly screeched before disintegrating as Yasyamon, boken held out, cleaved through, Vincent having led it perfectly into the path of the Captain's attack, as the swordsman also neatly dissected his own opponent.

"Good work, Lieutenant-Colonel," The swordsman praised.

"Thank you Captain," The teen returned, as both looked, back to back, to inspect the rest of the battlefield. About them, at most, lay the fading bodies of drones, in varying states of having been sliced, bludgeoned, or burnt, while the group re-positioned itself to prepare for another attack. The re-evolved Bulletmon sticking close by his partner, smoke leading from his gun-barrels. Lacking any real combat skill, BB was the weak link of the group, but hard to touch thanks to the dedication of his partner.

"Sound off!" Vincent cried.

"All clear," Komodomon called.

"Hai!" Kotemon barked, shinai held in a guard stance, both had their backs to a wall.

"No targets in sight sir," Bulletmon contributed.

"Stay sharp," Yasyamon instructed. "Form a circle and continue on towards the track."

There was a hail of affirmations to the command as the group began to move in together, forming a crude circle with all eyes facing outward, while the drones were simple enough to disable, they were still deadly, and BB put up little resistance when prompted to stay in the centre of the circle. The battle with the Rapidmon had hammered into him how dangerous this world was, and he had lost the will to engage in debates to try and shirk off his kid' status, at least at these inappropriate times. The circle proceeded to crawl forward, eyes and ears strained so as to remain on the alert, twitches occurring each time the wind created a moan as it passed through the remains of a building, the sound of deep breathing as the group struggled to regain their breath, but keep their adrenaline, sounded far too loud, along with each scrape of foot and claw against dusty, rocky, road.

Vincent felt an amount of guilt at the desire to be shielded in the centre of the circle, his total _real_ combat experience, not counting drone dodging, amounted to a few school yard scuffles, nothing which remotely equated to these life threatening scenarios, but he was needed in order to keep a full circle. Heart thrumming in his chest, he cursed each time his scanning glances took in the distance to the tracks, and it was always longer than he wanted it to be. It was hardly a secure location but it would at least mean that…

"Boo." A voice slipped into his ear, the breath the carried the words pressed softly against his skin and the soft fur that brushed against him tickled. With a startled scream he spun, tumbled, and wound up hand flat upon the ground as he sat, gazing up at the slender, chuckling form of a Renamon. "Oh that was fun," She cooed.

"Brigadier?" Komodomon gasped.

For a moment, Vincent's eyes narrowed as he scrutinised the Vulpine Digimon, before pronouncing a judgement.

"No, she's not. Her stance is wrong, it's following the presentation of a ninja rather than a priestess, which the brigadier favoured. Also, the shade of her fur is too light, my guess is that it's bleached a little from being in the sun, while the brigadier favours studying indoors." A small grin passed over the boys face. "Also, she looked rather confused when you cried out 'Brigadier.'"

"Hmph. Not that I know who you're talking about, but you seem to be a man who knows his troops well." A deep commanding voice spoke out. The security of the circle faltered as all turned to face the source of the voice. Clanks echoed with each step the figure took, wrapped up in Royal Blue, the cloak swayed gently as he moved, an oppressive aura seemed to fill the air around him.

"Actually," Vincent rose to his feet. "I'm only a Lieutenant-Colonel. So the Brigadier in question is my superior officer." The whole situation un-nerved him, but for that reason, he clung to the 'Cait' persona he had so well established. Unshakeable, that's how he needed to appear. Fortunately, his cloak hid the slight shaking in his legs.

"Grademon." Yasyamon nodded towards the cloaked digimon.

"Hmph. Yasyamon." The warrior digimon swept his arms aside, causing the cloak to fall from around his body and settle as a cape behind him, revealing him in all of his golden splendour. Every inch of his body was encased within the shining armour, a large set of metal bull like horns rose from just above the cape, two long katana sheaths, each the same royal blue as his cloak, sat at his waist, one at each side, and three long metal claws emerged from his armoured boots. It was clear, he had evolved for only a single purpose. To fight. "I hope you appreciate what an honour it is to have me acknowledge your name, I feel your ability to elude our forces for so long, as well as your victory over BlackRapidmon warrant it. I assure you that if you die well, I will make an effort to remember it."

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that he's the Grademon who attacked you guys." Komodomon whispered in a not so quiet voice to Kotemon.

"Hmph. I am Grademon, the Golden Flash, and servant of the Lord Pride!" The boom of his voice as he announced was helped in issuing his statement of intent by metal-on-metal sliding sound made by the slow draw of his twin weapons. "And I will dispatch you. Renamon, deal with the refuse"

"Yes sir." The fox nodded.

"Hey wait a minute, I'm grade A…" Komodomon began to protest.

"Fox Leaf Arrowhead!"

Renamon spun in place, creating a full circle of shards within the groups ring, the layout that had been adopted for defence, was turned on them as they collectively threw themselves to the ground in order to avoid the attack, a chain of small explosions rattled off as the shards crashed into the remains of buildings. While everyone scrambled up, Yasyamon, with an impressive swing of his legs, practically launched himself back onto his feet, Boken readied as Grademon, in a sudden shock of movement, lunged forward.

"Double…" Yasyamon's feet shifted to root himself, preparing for the clash.

"Cross…" Grademon was upon him in a blink of an eye.

"Strike!"

"Blade!"

The psychic blast wave created by Yasyamon's attack seemed to do little more than blow back Grademon's cloak, as his own crossed blades were whipped apart, releasing such a force that Yasyamon was sent careening through the air.

"Hmph…is this all you have to offer…" The Golden warrior's words were cut short as a loud cry of 'Slash Ripper!' went out, and he suddenly found his scout crashing into his head. Turning to look, leaving Renamon to recover herself, his eyes, hidden beneath his jagged helm, glared at Komodomon, who finished his spin, having used it to launch Renamon, rather than cut at her.

"Heh. You ain't all that and a pack of cheese!" The red lizard declared, pointing one long claw at the fox, before dramatically moving it across to the golden warrior. "And you're next Shiny Shine McShinenson! Vinny, let's go!"

"Bulletmon, you're up!" BB cried out, whipping out his digivice.

"Yes Kaiser!" The green digimon returned.

"Here we go…" Vincent near muttered, his eyes focused on their foes as he allowed his crimson light to bleed into the digivice as Komodomon and Bulletmon sprang forward.

"Komodomon Digivolve to…DRAKEMON!"

"Bulletmon Digivolve to…DESPERAMON!"

"Impact Claw!" The dragon warrior roared, his fist swinging with concentrated force at the knight's head, only to be knocked aside with a casual flick of the wrist, as Grademon's blade turned the attack before Grademon made a counter swing, Drakemon crossing his arms and using the thick chains that adorned is own wrists to block the strikes, the sharpness of the blades and the strength of the swings allowing the swords to sink in a good half inch. Realising the position Grademon had set himself up in, the warrior shifting his feet as he prepared to unleash another 'Cross Blade' attack, but the dragon couldn't help but smirk, an action that almost made Grademon hesitate, before a large gun-barrel was settled over Drakemon's shoulder, pointing straight into the warrior's face.

"Star Revolver." Desperamon quipped without zeal, before unleashing the explosive bullet straight into his opponent's helm. Again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again. The consecutive shots causing Grademon to stumble, especially when Drakemon joined in with his 'Dragon Burn', the two rained attacks down, causing a smoke to build up as attack after attack detonated.

"Oh no you don't…" Renamon grumbled, leaping off the ground and into the air, crossing her arms over as she summoned her attack.

"Fox Leaf Arrowhead!"

"Hot Head!" Kotemon countered, throwing himself in between the fox and the unprotected backs of his comrades, his shinai covered in flames as he made a broad sweep, the crystal like attack exploding before him, as those that were beyond the arc of flame continued on, crashing into the small swordsman and knocking him down into his allies, bouncing off of Desperamon's back, sending the next shot off at an angle, and the recoil, along with the loss of balance, caused the barrel to jerk back and strike Drakemon in the head, causing his shot to go off crooked and bowl the pair over.

"Ow…" Kotemon uttered from beneath the pile. "Not how I saw that going…" He pined, looking up as Renamon gracefully returned to the earth.

"Hmph. I'm sorely disappointed." Grademon swept the dust and smoke aside with the backs of his swords. "Rapidmon told us that the green one was able to leap to the Ultimate Level. While I agree that this 'leap' you are able to perform is intriguing, a pair of champion level Digimon are hardly a match for me."

"Rapidmon? I thought we blew that guy to pieces?" BB objected.

"Hmph. While you managed to greatly injure that lout, you didn't finish him." Grademon sighed. "I can't help but feel this was something of a wasted journey."

"My most sincere apologies for disappointing you. Please, allow me a chance to make amends for our lack of courtesy."

"Hmph. So you're not dead." Grademon turned to Yasyamon as the puppet warrior dug himself out of the remains of the building he had been hurled into, before adopting a fresh combat stance. He could tell purely by the weight and feel of the weapon in his hand that one of the boken, the left one, was broken, about three quarters lost, while the other had gained a deep crack and wouldn't last much longer. But he could tell there was no way to escape this fight, if this was to be his end, he would end it upon his feet.

"Kotemon." Drakemon grumbled as he pulled himself to his feet. "You take care of Renamon."

"Yosh." The swordsman nodded, pulling himself up and readying his shinai.

"What are we gonna do?" BB asked, turning to Vincent.

"Run and hide." The older boy replied.

"Wha…?" BB began, before his wrist was seized and the teen dragged him off.

"Lets go Renamon!" Kotemon cried, rushing his opponent and lunging with a downward strike, only for the fox to disappearing in a flurry of leaves. "Uh…?"

"Not bad, boya." Renamon grinned as she reappeared; Autumnal leaves fell around her as she looked down from the remains of a house.

"Damn ninjas."

--

"Why are we hiding?" BB insisted as he and Vincent crouched in the skeleton of what had been, the teen supposed, a pub about a street away from the fight.

"Because we're soft and squishy humans." The teen replied, trying to keep thoughts of the way things had gone the last time he'd seen protagonists in a movie seek refuge in a pub. "Even if a rookie level digimon is roughly equal to a human in terms of physical strength, it's only comparable to an athletic, well trained human. So _maybe_ Liz could take out that Renamon, if her special attacks didn't tear her apart, and maybe the two of us could do something…but the last thing Drakemon and the others need is us being in the way."

Abandoning his position peering over the bar, BB sulked down on the floor, while Vincent continued to track the battle. The sulk did not last long before the boy sprang back up, his digivice out as he, in true form, continued his scanning compulsion, visiting it upon the opposing combatants.

**GRADEMON**

**Level: Ultimate**

**Type: Vaccine**

**Attacks: **Cross Blade, Grade Slash.

**RENAMON**

**Level: Rookie**

**Type: Data**

**Attacks: **Fox Leaf Arrowhead, Wisteria Punch, Kohenkyo.

"What I don't get…is why is the Renamon's attack all screwed up?" BB asked, puzzled.

"We're facing possible death and you're wondering about attack names?" Vincent quirked an eyebrow, distracted from his effort to construct a plan.

"Well…we are sitting here being completely ineffectual and all."

"My personal bet is that it's the Japanese attack name. We've no proof that attack names are consistent throughout a species in the digital world, and this Renamon seems to focus on having a ninja image, rather than a priestly one, and I guess 'Fox Leaf Arrowhead' sounds more ninja like." Vincent explained, eyes darting around the terrain. "Can I get back to coming up with a plan now?"

Both boys ducked as a deflected bullet from the Star Revolver punched through their temporary shelter. It was wide of them by a good half metre, but was enough to shake them.

"Yeah, g-go ahead." BB conceded from his foetal position. "I'll just stay down here."

--

"Kohenkyo!"

"Hot Head!"

"Kohenkyo!"

"Hot Head!"

"Kohenkyo!"

"Knock it off!" Kotemon cried, surrounded by trenches and small craters from missed attacks.

"No." Renamon grinned, leaves falling around her from her latest evasion.

Standing on opposing roofs, Kotemon was panting heavily from his efforts to cut down the ninjitsu user. Everytime he got within strike range, she utilized her Kohenkyo ability to teleport out of reach, leaving him with nothing but burnt leaves, add in the uneven terrain they were fighting on, his frustration was causing him to over swing and smash up the terrain.

'Great, all my attacks are for straight up fights.' Kotemon grimaced within his mask as he straightened out his stance. 'I can't deal with this warping around.'

"Tell you what boya. I'll stop running away." The fox sighed, before adopting a fighting stance and dashing forward.

"Yosh!" The samurai in-training called. 'This is how it should be settled.' He thought, before Renamon vanished in a flurry of leaves.

"Kohenkyo." The fox grinned as she appeared beyond Kotemon, lashing out in a fierce kick that sent the poor kendoist flying, before the ninja began a chain of teleports, constantly bouncing the masked swordsman around. "Wisteria Punch!" A blue flame formed around the vulpine's fist as she appeared above Kotemon, diving down to ram into him as the Swordsman whirled, his blade igniting in a 'Hot Head' attack, the blue and red flames colliding along with fist and Shinai, the crossover launching Renamon back up, and Kotemon down, both recovering and landing smoothly.

'Even with Kohenkyo, there's still a gap available.' Kotemon thought to himself, changing his grip slightly as Renamon launched herself into the air once more, before vanishing in her Kohenkyo.

"Gaioryu." Kotemon uttered, his feet re-aligning. "Jiten Enbu!" Pushing off, the short digimon began a vicious spin, twisting his sword up as he did so in order to strike in one of three critical places on an unseen, nearby enemy. As Renamon warped in to attack, the shinai caught her in the back of her knees, toppling her, with his opponent down, Kotemon sped up his spin, igniting his shinai as he did so. "Hot Head!" He called, before slicing clean through Renamon's abdomen, the kitsune shinobi managing a cry as her body faded away as data particles, which were absorbed by the swordsman. "May your strength, become my strength." He recited as she finished fading. "Now what's happening to the…" He was cut off as Desperamon's body flew through the adjacent building husk and bowled him over, as the desert gunman returned to being the much shorter helmeted rookie.

"Sorry." Bulletmon wheezed.

"No problem." Kotemon gasped from under him.

--

Desperamon was out of the fight, Drakemon was sure of that, and he wasn't fairing much better himself. He had managed to land several blows upon Grademon, but neither of his attacks had seen any success in dealing damage, his knuckles were actually starting to hurt. Glancing at his right wrist, the dragon warrior grimaced as he watched the chains slide off and into a heap on the ground, Grademon's blades had succeeded in cutting deep enough to remove his 'shield'. 'If we were in the game, Vin would have pulled out a nice mod combo by now.' The NS officer thought to himself as he returned his full attention to Grademon, who had the audacity to look bored. 'But he can't, so I've got to fight on my own. If I know you as well as I think I do partner, you're working on a plan to get us out of this mess, so I'll keep going until you can pull it off.'

"Drakemon." Yasyamon was looking rough too, the chains that normally wrapped his body had been lost, and like Drakemon, he had been slammed around and cut up by Grademon, the pair had only just managed to keep from being killed. "I have something of an idea, I need you to get me up high though."

"I doubt I can get airborne before he cuts me down," Drakemon whispered back. "But I got something…just watch and be ready." He placed his right claw upon his left wrist, and a click was heard as whatever buckle secured the chain was undone.

"Are you going to do something interesting now?" Grademon asked, levelling a blade at his opponents.

"You bet!" Drakemon roared, rushing forward, whipping the chain out and spinning it in a great circle above his head as he moved, his wings fanning out and flapping to provided a burst of speed, Yasyamon following behind, before the dragon suddenly folded one wing in, sending him into a spin and the chain into a wide arc. "Go!"

Dropping the broken boken, Yasyamon seized hold of the chain in his free hand and allowed himself to be pulled through the air as Drakemon swung upward, and let go, catapulting Yasyamon into the sky as he completed the spin and brought his fist straight at Grademon.

"Impact Claw!" He roared, as Grademon turned his sword and blocked with the flat side, holding Drakemon at bay as his other arm swung up and was similarly blocked, before the dragon seized hold of both swords. "Gotcha." He uttered.

"Gaio Ryu!" Yasyamon cried, releasing the chain and seizing his boken in both hands as he sent himself into a spin, diving straight down at Grademon. "Hiryuu Enbu!"

A sickening crack filled the air as the boken was brought down on Grademon's head, the Kendoist landing crouched in-between the golden swordsman and the dragon. Breathing out a heavy sigh, he looked up and his eyes widened at the sight of his shattered boken.

"Hmph. Not a bad technique." Grademon commented, splinters falling from his helm. "Hmph. Pity you lack the power to use it right." With a sharp motion, he wrenched his swords from Drakemon's grip and brought them both above his head. "Hmph. Power like this! Grade Slash!"

Both Digimon threw themselves out of the way of the attack as each blade released a golden arc. With their dodges not being wide enough, both were pulled along by the force generated by the arcs and were sent tumbling along the ground before crashing into the dilapidated trail station.

--

"What was that?" Kotemon commented at the large crash that caused dust to fall from the rafters.

"Likely Grademon." Vincent responded, his hand pressed against the thick metal of the trail line (and glad it hadn't electrocuted him.) "Okay, we're set, get to the other side guys." He motioned around the hole the track rose from.

"Right." BB nodded, his limp partner supported on his back, Kotemon propping him up when he began to slip, while Vincent began to move out of the station.

--

"Oooh…my beautiful, sexy, dashing head." Komodomon groaned, pulling himself out of what had once been a set of stairs.

"Don't worry." Yasyamon rose, supporting himself against a worn wall. "I don't think it will be attached for much longer."

"Well, nice working with you." Komodomon sighed, standing up as Grademon approached.

"It was an honour, Komodomon-san." Yasyamon replied.

"Y'know…we have running away to do." Vincent intruded, poking his head through the remains of the station door. "This way."

Always up for a last run around, Komodomon began to follow, giving a wink to Yasyamon that prompted the swordsman to follow. Komodomon was placing his faith within his partner, and Yasyamon would do the same.

"Hmph! Running!" Grademon exclaimed, turning his saunter into a sprint. "Have you no pride!"

In a flash of 'Cross Blade', the golden Digimon blew away the front, middle, and back of the now fully collapsed train station, and glared down at the group, assembled on the opposite side of the hole, their backs against a second, likely for those travelling in the opposite direction.

"Hmph. End of the line." Grademon grinned, before launching into the air, his blades raised for another Grade Slash.

"Not really." Vincent's mouth curved up in a twitchy, nervous grin, before a bellowing whistle was heard and light erupted from the hole. A large worm type Trailmon suddenly burst up from below, it's large head ramming into Grademon from beneath and throwing the warrior through the air to crash down amongst the houses. "While I couldn't find a timetable, the vibrations coming through the track were more than enough to let me know this guy was on the way."

"What?" Komodomon shouted over the noise of the breaking Trailmon. "I can't hear you!"

His grin faltering, Vincent waved a 'never mind' as the Trailmon came to a temporary stop.

"Everyone on!" He cried, pulling one of the doors open. "Now!" He barked, prompting them to speed up before leaping in himself.

"My legs!" Grademon hollered, his swords lying in the dirt as he tried to tend to his injured limbs, which were clearly sticking out in the wrong directions. "Damn, damn, damn, damn!" He wailed to the sky. "I will kill you! I will kill all of you!" With another bellowing whistle, the Trailmon began to move on, climbing up the track once more. In a fit of rage, Grademon reached out, and with a war-cry born of pain and humiliation, threw it in a spear like fashion towards the Trailmon, but, not built for flight, it fell short, leaving the ultimate warrior to gaze on as his quarry eluded him.

--

On board the Trailmon, everyone clung as best they could to the available seats, several Numemon, who were on board and who stuck without problem gave them cursory glances before returning to newspapers, books, and conversation.

"Are we alive?" Komodomon panted.

"Yes." Vincent responded.

"Good." Komodomon nodded, before joining in the collective 'woah' as the Train began to run along horizontal lines, the sharp change throwing the group to the floor. "Well this day is going spectacularly well." The red lizard commented from under his partner.

"Tickets please!" A voice cried through the cabin with un-necessary volume. "Get yer tickets ready please!"

"Um…one of us has money…right?" BB asked, failing to find any re-assurance in the blank and embarrassed looks he received.

**Raven: **Darnit, it's notes time already.

I'm gonna be a nice guy and take all the blame for our lateness this time, folks (though perhaps we should consider updating once every two weeks, since we seem good at it). I was moving in to a new house and wasn't here this weekend. I think Keyo got lonely without me and didn't know how to finish the chapter.

Jokes aside, Keyo felt that doing something different was necessary. That, and he wants to screw with Vincent before giving him stuff that the others have. Everybody else has faced a village-decimating villain, Vince gets somebody after his (and everybody else's) head. And don't worry folks, Eight Ball will get something different too. Trust me, he'll come back. And he'll get even cooler once the Megas hit. (What? You thought we weren't going there? C'mon, you know I haven't spoiled anything.)

Slight note, I won't be here this weekend or next due to a family reunion. If Keyo sticks to his writing (wink wink), that will just mean a chapter without my notes. In any case, we hope you enjoy the chapter.

**Keyo:** Side note, I have a working 'H' Key again.

So yes, a lot has changed since the hiatus, as well as my ability to churn out chapters. I was really uncomfortable going into another big fight scene so soon, but I really wanted to get Grademon in. He's kinda important for introducing elements of the plot, as well as letting us know what's happening with these guys. Sadly, I must admit, Digimon is a combat heavy series, so it makes sense it should keep forcing its way into my chapters.

So yeah, the fight scene really plagued me until I started getting into it. Kotemon is kinda fun to write, I really try to give him something of 'Yahiko' from 'Ruroni Kenshin', without making him a carbon copy. I think this is out first real 'rookie vs rookie' battle, something you don't really see in the series.

Here's hoping I actually sit down and write 39 tomorrow, rather than play Cabal Online and watch Transformers…they're the other reason this is so late.


	39. Chapter 39

"Do they all have names

**Keyo**: Apologies for lateness. Please enjoy this appropriately owned property inspired piece of fiction.

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"Do they all have names?"

"Hm?"

"The stars, do they all have their own names?"

Rolling onto his side, Juan looked at the bulky red and black dinosaur that comprisied the rookie form of his partner. The pair lay back on the roof of the inn he and his team had settled in for the night. Still lacking in money, the team of moderators had managed to secure lodgins in exchange for labour, and Juan could still feel the dishwater on his arms, while Guilmon could still smell it. With the little bat wing like ear fins that provided the metaphorical 'leaves' for his 'pineapple head' title, Guildmon looked expectantly at his partner and teacher.

"Well," Juan began looking upward, Guilmon following his lead. "I'm not sure. I know that some stars, and groups of stars back home have names, but I don't know about the ones here though."

"Oh…" Guilmon blinked at up at the starry sky, then back to his partner, then rolled his head back to look at the sky again. "I see."

Grinning, Juan resumed his star gazing. They had been in the digital world for a few days now, crashing down from…wherever they had crashed down from (the gate's delivery left a lot to be desired) and into a grassy plain, and had been confronted with Guilmon, Veemon, and BlackPawnchessmon. Other than Elaine and Momo, whose hands he had been holding, the Juan had found that the other moderators could not be found, and the group of six had begun their travel, following along a dusty trade road from town to town, though they had yet to find any other humans. Juan couldn't complain too much though, he had been having a great time, and Guilmon was a delight to be with. The red digimon had started off mute and submissive, acting like a good obedient program, but he had then begun to ask questions, lots of questions, all about the world around him. It wasn't the childish curiosity that the Guilmon in the TV show was shown with, rather, it was tended to border on being philosophical. Curious, investigative, looking carefully to understand and asking when answers couldn't be reasoned out alone, Juan couldn't help but grin, his partner certainly was becoming more and more interesting.

"Oy! Juan-Rin!" Momo's voice called up, her head sticking out of the window. "Dinner's ready!"

"Great!" Juan beamed, waving down. "We'll be down in a moment."

Standing, the moderator took another look at the starry sky. These last few days had been wondrous. Travelling from town to town, working to pay for a room…with all the wood he'd chopped recently, he was sure that he'd toned up nicely. Running a hand along his chin, he felt the stubble, left behind from the rough shaves he'd had to use, he was starting to feel like he was living in a child's dream of adventure.

Of course, he reflected, Elaine was with him. How could he not be enjoying himself?

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**Of Blood and Binary.**

**Chapter 39:** Playing catch-up!

The world continues to turn!

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What her teacher was going on about, Charlie had long since stopped paying attention, she was barely even aware of what class she was in any more. With her head propped up in one hand, she let her attention once again tilt to the empty disk that sat beside her.

'How many days…' She wondered privately. 'Has it been?'

Time had sort of slouched for the girl ever since Tanya had disappeared, each day sort of bleeding into the next. She just felt so out of place without her friend by her side, for so many years they'd been a big part of each other's lives and daily rhythms, and with her sudden absence Charlie couldn't help but feel off balance. Of course, her friend had been away before, but this was a very different situation to a vacation.

'Is she okay?' Charlie wondered as she slouched upon the couch that evening, the light from the TV washing over her as the news reported about as much as always regarding the mass disappearance, that nothing definite had been found yet, authorities were still searching for a connection between all the missing people. 'Everyone at the same time.' Charlie thought as the intriguing fact was mentioned again. 'If she were here, she'd already be claiming aliens.'

Letting her head roll, she looked upon a picture of the two that sat upon the wall, mingled in amongst all the other cheery pictures of family and friends that decorated her living room. It was from when they started high-school together, all dolled up for the first day, Charlie's arm was slung around Tanya's neck, pulling the girl in closer as she gave off an aggressive smile, while Tanya looked partially oxygen starved.

'Please be safe Tanya…' The schoolgirl mentally pleaded, scrunching her eyes shut.

-- --

"I told you it wasn't safe." Tanya pined as she applied another bandage to her friend's arm.

"Less 'I told you so', more first aid." Liz returned, sitting disgruntled upon the floor, a small, bloodied pile of splinters next to her, as she held her arm out, sleeve rolled up, as Tanya wrapped a bandage on, having finished pulling out each of the wooden shards with a pair of tweezers.

"Next time, please use a ladder?" Tanya pleaded, looking across at the collapsed heap of tables the blonde girl had previously been balancing upon.

"You're as bad as Vincent, y'know?" Liz sighed.

In the wake of the battle with Digitamamon, a new goal had settled upon the small town. And that was repair. The houses and the Inn, having been torn through by Digitamamon's 'egg roll' manoeuvre needed the most extensive repairs, repairing walls and replacing crushed contents. To fix the holes, first the broken boards needed to be removed. More than willing to get out of the pink and white lace, had promptly slapped on her trousers and shirt and volunteered for the demolition work. So promptly, in fact, that she refused to wait for a ladder and began stacking up tables and debris to reach the higher up boards, a support system that hadn't been as supportive as she'd hoped. One collapse later, and the resolute and hardened soldier of the Nightmare Soldiers had managed to fill her upper arm with splinters, not to mention a hefty amount of bruising.

"At least you're talking to me again." Liz spoke with a weak smile.

"Ah…" Tanya uttered, looking away from her companion for a moment.

Since Digitamon's death, conversation between the two girls had occurred only when necessary. There had been no argument, but it hadn't taken much for Liz to work out what had unsettled the scrawny girl.

"I'm not going to say I'm sorry that we killed him." Liz carried on. "But I am sorry that it's what it came down to. He was going to kill us Tanya, D-Greymon didn't have much choice."

"It's just…" Tanya finished tying off the knot. "I know it's just that…it seems so wrong…to kill…"

"This world isn't going to be all happy and pleasant." Liz warned. "We saw that back in the Dokugumon hive. There's a war going on, and we're going to have to take risks in order to find the others and get home. We may get stuck in more 'kill or be killed' situations, and I sure as hell know which side I want to wind up on."

"I know…it's just…if I accept it, then I'll have to let Lupmon…I just…I just can't have her…" Tanya began to tear up at the thought. If she let Lupmon kill, then where would it go from there? She'd seen the far off look her father could get whenever war was mentioned in the news, the terrible memories it would drag back up, the pain he'd suffered and inflicted, she knew it had all hurt him in a way that couldn't be healed…she wasn't strong enough for that, she didn't want to put Lupmon through that, she…

"Don't worry." Liz placed a comforting hand upon Tanya's shoulder. "Augumon and I will be the ones to bloody our hands. We'll keep you and Luppy safe."

No matter how much she appreciated it, Tanya had to object, both of her hands clasped onto Liz's.

"But…but that's not fair!" She cried. "I can't just let you both take that on alone!"

"Don't worry." Liz eased the darker haired girl's hands from her own. "It was something I was ready to accept every since we began trying to come here. I made a promise with a certain someone that if things went wrong, and we needed to bloody our hands to survive, we'd be the ones to do it."

"Certain someone?" Tanya couldn't help but ask.

"You gotta ask? C'mon, who have you met in NS who's a bit enough worry-wart that he'd sell his soul just to keep everyone safe?"

-- --

"I feel like I've sold my soul." Komodomon complained as he looked down at the navy blue jacket he'd been crammed into, before mournfully lifting his eyes to the dainty cap that rested atop his head, giving him the overall appearance of a bellboy.

"Relax, you're adorable." Vincent chuckled as he carefully laid the tables of the dining car.

"At least you get to look all bad-ass, why am I in this clown outfit?"

"Bad-ass?" Vincent asked, puzzled, before looking down at himself. His cloak had been removed, along with much of the paraphernalia that tended to adorn his wrists and belt. He wore a white shirt, that was a few sizes too small, and so was left open with sleeves severed and the remains rolled up. "I'm the one who looks silly, I got my belly button out on full display!" He pointed at the point for emphasis. "But we gotta work if we want to stay on the Trailmon!"

"Then why don't you collect tickets, and I'll work in the kitchen?" Komodomon growled, stretching up to try and reach his partner's height.

"Idiot!" Vincent leant down, his nose almost pushing against his partner's. "You can't cook, and I can barely fit into this shirt, let alone that jacket."

"I hope my new employees aren't wasting time arguing when they should be working," A voice called out in a cheery singsong fashion. "other wise I'll have to throw their freeloadin' asses outta here!!" It cried, the tone changing to a sharp bark.

"No Conductor Gazimon, sir!" The human and Digimon snapped into an attentive salute as they responded.

Gazimon, conductor of the Trailmon stood in the doorway, making a tsking noise. His uniform was very similar to the one worn by Komodomon, only embossed with more gold markings to distinguish him, as well as a much niftier hat. So nifty, in fact, that Komodomon had to fight down a growl of jealousy as he thought of how his looked like it was pulled from a Christmas cracker. Fiddling with the golden whistle that sat about his neck the moment he uncrossed his arms, the Conductor strode through the small dining cart as if performing a military inspection. He took his job very seriously, and was very proud of _his_ Trailmon, everything would be perfect, and now that he had other people to do it for him certainly should save him time and make it easier, but only if they met his standards. Looking over the recently cleaned cutlery, he gave a nod of approval.

"Good work Freeloader A!" He grinned at Vincent. "I hope your cooking is just as good."

"Thank you Sir." Vincent grinned in return.

"Freeloader B!" He turned to Komodomon, a preference, as he didn't like having to look up at the taller Freeloader. "We need fresh linen taken to Rooms b and d in the sleeper cabin, and we'll be arriving at the next stop soon, so get ready to collect tickets!"

"Yes Sir!" Komodomon cried in response, suppressing the urge to fiddle with the cord that kept his hat in place, or better yet, try and swipe Gazimon's.

"Right then, chop chop!" Gazimon clapped as he began to head back out the way he'd come, pausing for a moment as he checked a brass pocket-watch. "Freeloader A, the Dining Car will open for lunch five minutes after we leave the next station, get cooking."

"Aye-aye, Sir!" Vincent saluted as Gazimon left, before joining his partner in sagging and sighing as the door closed.

"I don't know how long I'll be able to put up with this." Komodomon groaned.

"Yasyamon and Kotemon barely had enough for their own fares, if we want to stay on, then we've got to do something to earn passage. Just be glad Gazimon was willing to let us work our way there." Vincent tried to pacify his partner. "Just be glad that we didn't get the same jobs as BB and Bulletmon."

A shudder ran down Komodomon's spine, causing the Digimon to tense up briefly.

"Poor Freeloader C and D…" He groaned. "Ah well, I better go and get that linen." He pumped a fist into the air, turning to head to the store in the rearmost cabin.

"You're suddenly charged up." Vincent pondered aloud.

"Gazimon said it was for the sleeping quarters, given the prices he's charging, anyone in there has to be quite well off." Komdomon explained with his 'all knowing chin clutch' stance.

"You're not thinking of stealing are you?" Vincent eyed his partner critically. "Cause we're not in the game anymore, these aren't NPCs."

"The only things I'm thinking of stealing," Komodomon turned so Vincent had a profile view, a strange sparkle entering his eyes. "are hearts!"

"Hearts?" Vincent's expression became less critical, and more confused.

"The most likely people to inhabit a cabin are well-to-do ladies, well-to-do-ladies who won't be able to resist my charm. Remember Vinnie-Boy," Komodomon changed to a finger wag. "A true adventurer knows that treasure comes in more forms than just jewels and gold."

"I'm sure they'll find your hat to be very cute." Vincent replied as he walked off into the small kitchen, leaving his partner to fume as he exited. 'I can't help but feel that that was all orchestrated as some sort of vague reference.' The teen thought as he looked over the ingredients available to him, which all looked like some kind of mix of foods he was familiar with. Endeavouring to succeed, he reviewed the day's menu one more time and began his best effort to prepare the soup. Slicing the potato-fish, he looked out the window. Things were starting to get green, not much, but there was more life around than before. It was amazing the difference Trailmon was making to their journey. 'We'll reach the city soon I hope, then we can begin to try and find everyone else…I hope they're all okay…'

-- --

Small legs shaking, the soaked fur-ball that was Viximon dropped down into the puddle. She couldn't go on, not anymore. She felt so sick, so tired…the rainwater had soaked her through, and she couldn't find any shelter, and having eaten from trashcans for the past few days couldn't have been doing her any good either. Lying on her side, she was vaguely aware of how could she was, lying out here in the rain, but it was more like a fact, than a feeling now. Everything was so blurry, and she couldn't summon strength to do much more than shiver as she lay gaping and gasping up at the cloudy evening sky.

'I finally came to his world…and it's to die alone…" To die, it felt so much worse than last time. She'd been planning to die for a purpose then, and had been saved. Had she only been saved to die in this miserable way here? She could hear the sounds of people walking about in the street before her, as well as the sound of cars on the motorway. She'd planned to be fascinated with it all, and study it and learn about it, not scamper around it all in this pathetic form. She wanted to go home, she wanted to be safe and warm again. She felt so unlike herself freezing away out here. Very slowly, the eyes of the Brigadier began to fall closed, and once again she thought it was odd how much she wished General Stoker was there.

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**Keyo:** Okay, I think Raven' might have accidentally blocked me again or something.

This chapter was finished, still late, but on Sunday. Raven still hasn't shown up so I can get him to check it over, but I'm not going to hold off any longer. Where I worry is that we've yet to go over this week's chapter, so fingers crossed he'll reappear from whatever quagmire he's hidden himself in.

Okay, so this chapter was kind of a hurry to put together, as I was working on Thursday and Friday, and we didn't have any plan. So I went with a nice filler chapter so we could, well, fill you in on where everyone is. A lot of this would play a really minor role in chapters to come, so setting the scene was a nice thing to do.

As for the events, Gazimon and Trailmon have been in my head for a long time, and I'm quite happy to have them here. Similarly, Eight has been asking about Charlie for the past block of chapters; so I figured that I better get her in. Kudos bar to whoever can spot the change I've made with her though

Just so you all know, the Cameo Contest is still on, seeing as no-one has managed to win yet :P


	40. Chapter 40

Keyo: Back from a missed update

**Keyo:** Back from a missed update! I apologise for the inconvenience, but will not take responsibility for any dirty rumours that I claim to own anything but our original characters!

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Morning dawned on the Weil Cornwall Medical Centre as Joanna Rhymes began her shift. The 5ft 7 Latina neatly bound her long black hair into a bun before stepping out of the women's changing room and made her way to the nurse's station to check her rounds for the day and catch up on the latest gossip.

"Gooood Morning!" She cried out in a sing-song voice, beaming at her fellow nurses as she practically waltzed into the room, her smile infectious as those who greeted her in return, regardless of how caffeine deprived, at least mustered a short smile. It was truly amazing the effect that a happy, beautiful woman could have on people.

And so there was gossip, starting naturally with complaints about how the rota was laid out for this week, and how Doctor Morgan, the hospital director, really was expecting too much of them. Bringing up Doctor's led onto the hospital specific gossip, how Doctor Monroe had apparently been seen leaving the night before with Doctor Schlock, and not in a sharing a cab to save money' kind of way, and how Doctor Walt had been found to be the tongue depressor thief, though still no-one could figure why anyone would want to be stealing tongue depressors. With the need to start the rounds, the gossip groups broke off, allowing gossip to move around about the other nurses, and patients (which in one case, Joanna found, was a very connected subject, as apparently Elsie Redding, the stern blonde nurse, well, apparently she had been caught giving some very unorthodox relaxation therapy to one of the patients on her last night shift, very scandalous, and such an uptight woman too. Of course, Abbie, the chattering red head with the many stud earrings, said it was always the uptight ones who hid something outrageous like that.)

The morning gossip, Joanna always thought, was very important in a hospital, as many patients could be trapped in their bed for months on end, and having a glimpse into the scandals of other people's life's was a great distraction, especially for those patients who were particularly fond of keeping up on their own local gossip, what was passed around the hospital was as vital to them as an I.V drip! And so, separating from her group, Joanna proceeded to flutter into the first room of her wards, bidding the occupants the same cheery greeting she had graced her fellow nurses with, and three of the four occupants responded in kind. The first was Ms Harding, a ruby faced, grey haired, old spinster in for a hip replacement. She was one of the biggest fans of hospital gossip and quizzed Joanna with the zeal of a police interrogator and the pronounced responses of a TV show audience, gratifying Joanna with a concert of Ohs!' and Ahs!' in all the appropriate places, as well relating events back to her own experiences (Ms Hading had been a nurse herself in her younger days, and Joanna enjoyed having the ancient gossip recounted, still red-hot with years old scandal.)

Across the room, Mr Irving would roll his eyes in good humour as the two girls began their banter, while waiting his turn to be checked over, motioning a digging of the ribs to Mr Walt (no relation to the Doctor) in the bed next to him. Mr Irving was an elderly gentleman who had spent his younger days as a travelling salesman. Never frivolous, he had built up his savings and was enjoying his latter years travelling around in a wonderful yacht. He also seemed determined to change Ms Harding's status as a spinster and often made wooing efforts upon his fellow invalid (a process which Joanna had much hope for.)

Mr Walt meanwhile was a ruthless businessman who was greatly enjoying his stay and had surprised many visitors with his sleepy disposition as he recuperated from being hit by a car and having seven bicycles dropped on him (he proudly kept a photo the accident by his bedside.) While by no means an unscrupulous man, he was thankful of Joanna's ditzy nature, as she had yet to notice the way in which he appreciated her figure, particularly during the times when she would drop her pen.

The final occupant of the room was a Ms Dent, a woman of stern Christian values and beliefs who tended to get on everyone's nerves with her seemingly endless tirade about the Work of the Lord' and how seemingly everything of benefit in the world was his doing. She had no time for gossip, and always gave Mr Walt a stern look (which was, however, no match for the allure of Joanna's curves) whenever he snuck appreciative glances at the nurse, and often remarked that Mr Irving's efforts at courtship were inappropriate. The only topics she was willing to discuss were religion, and the news, often combining the two in her own way.

"I've been thinking," she remarked as Joanna checked her blood pressure, which was known to soar on a good rant.

"Oh?" Joanna remarked, turning her dark eyes up. One of the reasons she was assigned to this ward was that her benign, ditzy nature made her immune to the negative effects of any of Ms Dent's rants.

"About all these disappearances." Ms Dent gave a firm nod, her short, thick batch of curled hair bobbing as she did so. "You don't think that it could be the rapture do you?" She asked, fingering her crucifix as she did so.

"Oh, don't say things like that," Joanna seemed to plead. "It will only go to _his_ head."

"Whose head?" Ms Dent asked, curious.

But Joanna merely gave an enigmatic, dreamy smile, as if carried away for a moment, before switching topics neatly to how Ms Dent should be out in time to help with the bring and buy sale her Church was planning to throw.

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**Chapter 40:** Friends in low places is a country song!

Return of the Iron Punchline!

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"I think I'm dead." Eight's voice was totally warped and scratchy.

"Unfortunately not." Shademon's remained as cool and spitefully dispassionate as ever.

Leaning back against the telephone pylon, the skinny human sat with his head between his knees, trying to savour what shadow the trunk like pole cast, while the pale, luminescent eyes of Shademon looked up with a half lidded glare of distaste at his partner.

"You know…if you had kept that coat and metal arm thing…you might have been dead by now. Maybe we can go back and get it," the dark Digimon seemed to rasp as his eyes moved to look back along the road.

"How about no?" The man grumbled.

"Suit yourself." Shademon's eyes lifted from the shadow slightly as he appeared to shrug, before settling back down.

Silence did not settle for long, as it was not within Eight's nature to be quiet.

"This sucks!" He exclaimed suddenly, arms waving up, as his head remained buried between his knees. "I mean, I finally get to travel to an alien world, and all there is dry, arid, seventy degree weather, rocks, dust, telephone polls, and one great, big, stinkin' road!" There was a wild swing towards the tarmac. "It just goes on, and on, and is so straight, and flat, and boring, and there hasn't been a single car, or…" a series of hacking coughs interrupted him as he clung to his head. "And we haven't had any food or water since we got here…I'm tired of trying to drink my own sweat."

"For most people, days without food and drink would have stopped their ability to speak," Shademon sighed, his eyelids lowering even more, leaving his eyes as thin slivers.

"I'm special," Eight croaked, before letting out a raspy sigh. "But I think…that this is the end…"

Then there was a thunderous honk that filled the still air, as in the shimmering distance there came the roaring noise of an engine, growing louder with each moment as the massive silver truck emerged from the haze. The solid engine pulled along what appeared to be an oil tanker, though it was decorated with massive letters in graffiti style, almost completely obscuring the metal as rock music pounded out from within, the bass being strong enough to actually disturb the ground as rocks hopped and Shademon was forced from the shadow, clawed hands clutched to his head as he glared up at the monstrosity as it drew to a halt. Normally such a halt would have emitted a high-pitched screech, but the sheer volume of the music drowned it out.

"And that's a tour bus," Eight commented with a glance, before breaking into another painful burst of dry coughs, making out a small worth it' in the middle.

A set of mechanics kicked in as the side of the tanker began to lift up into the air, revealing the tour bus' interior, leather couches, an inbuilt bar, and a variety of rock and disco paraphernalia, that gave the impression of a lot of money, a lot of music, and no taste, Eight promptly deemed it typical tour bus…except that an assortment of Digimon were enjoying the available food, drinks, the most prominent of these, was what looked like a 7ft monkey, in a beige monkey suit, wearing a massive set of sunglasses, twirling a microphone in one hand as he looked down at the down-trodden pair.

"Yo! You dudes need a lift?" He cried out in what was probably meant to be the rock and roll version of a sing song voice.

If Shademon actually had a jaw, it would have gone slack in shock.

-- --

Shademon was a very unique Digimon. He knew some of the reasons why, but he would never be the one to tell anyone. What he would be willing to tell people is that while being able to merge with the shadows allows him to avoid physical attacks, he can still hear, and he can sense vibrations that disturb the surface that the shadow lies upon. So, squirreled away under the small shadow cast by the bolted down barstool his partner was sitting on, Shademon grimaced at the effect the throbbing bass was having on him, combined with the general thrum of the vehicle. It was frustrating, but it meant no-one could talk to him, offer him a drink, or do any one of the myriad of things than annoyed him so much.

Since being welcomed aboard the tour bus, an experience which could more accurately be described as being carried aboard, the two had been provided with ample rations and had been able to fill empty bellies and quench their thirsts on all manner of food and drink. Shademon had a suspicion that not a lot of it was very healthy, but while he had found an absence for a great need for sustenance, his ability to endure on the road serving as proof (though the fact that he spent so much time riding in Eight's shadow may have helped), he had joined his partner in the impromptu feast, steadfastly ignoring the idiots around them as they had begun chanting chug, chug, chug' as Eight downed a large tankard of some sort of alcoholic beverage.

There was a thunk noise as Eight hopped down from the stool before bending down to look under, locating his partner's silver eyes.

"What do you think?" He asked giving his black locks a flick and his smooth chin a rub.

"I still don't see why you felt the need to change your hair colour." Shademon did his best impression of a yell in order to be heard.

"Because Eight Ball is the dark and mysterious hacker with midnight black hair and smooth chin," Eight explained, his voice was still a little distorted from the damage from being without water for so long, and he didn't know how long it would take to heal. "Right now, I can't sound like I do in game, and my body shape is totally different from my avatar." Shademon made some off hand comment about him really being a scrawny weakling, but it faltered under the music. "And I couldn't carry around my jacket and armour, so I've got to do something to make sure anyone from NS can recognise me."

Shademon sincerely wanted to make a comment about how Eight's personality alone was enough of a way for anyone from the Nightmare Soldiers to recognise him, and that if they did recognize him, they'd be more likely to run away than go up to him. But the music was becoming too much for him. It was so…so…

Crap!

Sinking back into the shadows, he took comfort that here it all existed as vibrations. It sill gave him a headache, but at least it wasn't insulting his artistic taste. As he sank down, he suddenly became aware of a very, very, fowl smell that began to fill the bust.

"GUYS!!" A gruff voice suddenly burst up; unbelievably loud it was capable of drowning out the music. "TOILET'S CLOGGED!"

Shademon was very glad he couldn't smell anything from the shadows either.

-- -- --

"Clean air! Clean air!" Eight cheered as much as his cracked voice would allow him as the tour bus drew to a halt, the tanker's side opening and the elite hacker threw himself out and onto the dry and dusty road once more, promptly followed by a hoard of Digimon roadies, technicians, and band members resulting in a massive pile up.

"Air! Need air!" The NS officer gasped from the bottom, grunting painfully as the hoard of rock and roll Digimon fought to disentangle themselves from the general mess, before making a mad dash towards the road side rest station which, if the pictograph on the side of the building was to be believed, provided both waffles and restrooms, the latter already receiving a large following as those who had suffered with full bladders from the toilet's clogging through to the eventual arrival at the stop, sought much needed relief.

As the hoard atop him finally allowed him to move, Eight rose and dusted himself off, turning his head to look down at his shadow as Shademon spoke.

"You're an idiot, you realise this right?" The silver eyes helped add to the effect of his critical voice.

"Of course, I'm American." A grin spread over the man's face as he resumed walking towards the rest station, giving off low chuckles to himself as he walked, hands in pocket. "Geh heh…oh God that was a bad one. I'm really outta practice…"

Entering the building, Eight once again savoured the air conditioner that it was equipped with. For being way out in the middle of nowhere it sure was a nice looking place, all chrome, and faux red leather, and everything you usually had in a roadside rest stop. Looking around, he spied the Digimon he was looking for.

"Oy! Nanimon!" He cheered, approaching the largely spherical Digimon.

Nanimon looked, for all intents and purposes, like a Caucasian MR T bobble head with arms and legs clasped in red gloves and boots with a thick pair of sunglasses essentially domination the equator of his bobbly-ness. The badge pinned to him labelled him as Head Technician', a title that meant only one thing to the worn out Eight.

Chief Roadie.

"What can I do ya faw?" The Chief barked in loud, punctuated manner. He had clearly been first into the stations café as he already had a plate of waffles before him on the table.

"Ba wheep graagnah weep ni ni bong," The hacker greeted, warranting an eye roll from his shadow. "I have come to offer my services as a lowly roadie."

"Oh?" Nanimon replied, before wolfing down a waffle. "What skillz ya got sucka?"

"Technical," Eight nodded. "If it has wires, programming, whatsits and doodads I can run it or fix it."

"Think you're good with machines and puters huh?" Nanimon's bushy brow rose up in a manner that defied the biology of eye-brows.

"010010010110011000100000011110010110111101110101001000000111010001110010011000010110111001110011011011000110000101110100011001010110010000100000011101000110100001101001011100110010110000100000011110010110111101110101001000000110100001100001011101100110010100100000011101110110000101100001011000010111100100100000011101000110111101101111001000000110110101110101011000110110100000100000011001100111001001100101011001010010000001110100011010010110110101100101001011100010000001001011011101010110010001101111011100110010000001110100011010000110111101110101011001110110100000101110" Eight grinned in a near manic fashion as he chanted the ones and zeroes, an expression that seemed to become reflected in the face of Nanimon.

"Well damn, you impressed me boi," He laughed heartily. "But if ya don't mind, why you wantin' to be a tech anyhoo?"

"I've gotten…very lost," Eight phrased. "I need to find my…crew, but we're so scattered out it's ridiculous…and totally this one guy's fault." He lifted a finger to emphasize.

"Well, good a reason as any," Nanimon nodded. "How'd the two of ya wind up out in the middle of Highway Nil anyhoo?"

"Um…_really_, wild party," Eight sold the line.

"Grahahahahaha-cha!" Nanimon laughed, reaching over and clapping Eight on the shoulder in a brutal fashion that nearly knocked the hacker from his seat. "Y'all definitely fit in around here! What's yer name son?"

"Eightmon," Eight grinned, thrusting out a hand.

"Nanimon," The Mohawk bearing Digimon returned, clasping Eight's hand with a crushing grip. "But seems you already knew that. I'll get a pass sorted for you soon as the plumber's fish out whateva died from our loo."

"You won't regret hiring us sir," Eight grinned, before promptly turning to a passing waitress, a Hawkmon in blue pinny. "Excuse me Miss, could I have six large plates of waffles with syrup, a pint of semi-skimmed milk and three muffins." Gesturing across to Nanimon, whose badge remained clearly on display, and whose hand was still clasped in Eight's. "I'm with the band so just charge it straight to them."

"Yes sir!" The waitress quite literally chirped, before making her way through the throng of rocker customers as Nanimon's jaw dropped.

He wasn't so sure that he wasn't going to regret hiring these two.

"If it's any consolation," Shademon's eerie cold voice resonated as he began to emerge from Eight's shadow. "I only feed on the souls of the living."

Nanimon really hoped the dark Digimon just had a twisted sense of humour.

"I am the waffler, nice and crispy, bad guys are history!" Eight began to cheer as he tucked a napkin into his filthy shirt, as somewhere outside a large boom went off, a spray of pink goo erupting from the side of the bus.

-- -- --

After repairs, clean up, de-tox, partial refurbishment, fee arguing, refuelling and stealing the liquid soap dispensers from every toilet in the station, the Tour Bus had finally departed, and at some point, when the three moons had risen high and the stars had come out, someone with a vague sense of responsibility had shut down the music and forced everyone to assume sleeping positions, resulting in a battle for the sparse beds and couches before everyone finally settled down and the lights went out. Lying flat on the floor, Eight stared up at the disco ball that hung overhead, visible thanks to the red emergency lights that lined the floor.

"It's nice, but it's no Stooge," He quipped quietly.

"Don't tell me that you, of all people, are actually pining for the great outdoors," Shademon hissed quietly. It seemed to Eight that whatever method of speech his partner utilized, was currently situated directly in his ear.

"Never saw what was so great about them. Films like Jeepers Creepers' exist to warn us of the stupidity of going out of our comfy offices." Eight's eyes remained on the disco ball as he spoke, before sinking closed.

"Why pretend to be a Digimon?" Shademon asked, with his usual lack of pre-amble.

"It's easier." Eight replied. "Digimon come in all shapes and sizes, so there's no real questioning my appearance, and it saves me the need of trying to convince them that I'm from an alien world. I mean, seriously, what are the odds of someone believing that?"

"Fair point," Shademon conceded.

"This is gonna be a rough time," Eight sighed.

"Not used to travelling are you?" Shademon almost chuckled.

"You kiddin'? I may hate the outdoors but I've been around…I've been to Canada…And I've been a roadie before. It was for a University band but still…"

"So what are you talking about?"

"This!" He sat up sharply, and pulled up the leather jacket he'd been using for a pillow, pointing to the emblem on the back as Shademon's silver moon like eyes appeared in the gloom.

The emblem that decorated the leather jacket was of Etemon, his upper half at least, singing away into a mic with his usual wide mouth as his tail looped around to encircle him and spell out his name, a sequence of numbers, to mark out the tour's year, were also marked on so as to look like bandages.

"I have to wear this and listen to that…that…betrayal…that…sacrilegious caterwauling that the great ape calls music!" He hissed, before being struck in the back of the head with a flying shoe.

"Shaddup, foo!" Nanimon barked, causing groans from everyone on board as they stirred. "Go to sleep!"

Dropping the jacket back down, Eight threw himself down with a humph, before mumbling away as Shademon's eyes closed up, rendering his partner invisible in the gloom once more.

"Whatever…" Shademon's voice sighed in his partner's ear. "This whole mess is a waste of time."

"Hey! This was not filler, ya here me!" Eight hissed. "It was not filler!"

A second shoe struck him.

"Ow!"

"Foo! Sleep! Now!" Nanimon commanded amongst the groans and moans.

"Yessir…"

**Raven: **I vaguely recall, and after checking my 38 notes, have confirmed, that I told everybody I was gonna be gone for a week or two. Keyo loses a Kudos bar for bad memory.

Ah, Eight Ball. Where they heck have you been, my good man? The universal greeting has been missing a user ever since Illidan from Warcraft 3 Frozen Throne. And unlike everybody else, Eight knows how to handle the natives. And he speaks Binary (And Japanese, which he might show off later). I really didn't want to do 8B's story until after Vincent's, but we've got an idea that might go well even with this current setup, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Cameo contest will continue until chapter 42, when the Ultimate Answer will be revealed. Again, we're looking for the reasoning behind OzLykiomon's name. We kinda figure you can get every other Ultimate's name, but we used a really special method to get her. So continue guessing, my good peeps!

Also, I have found my new favourite TV show, _Sasuke. _(Airs as "Ninja Warrior" on G4.) That show defeats every anime in existence, and possibly even The Price is Right. _Kinniku Banzuke _is also a good show (Literally translates "Muscle Record", it is known as _Unbeatable Banzuke _and airs right before Ninja Warrior). So yeah, watch those two and relish in utter humiliation. It's like American Idol, only you watch it not only to see them lose, but to see them win as well.

**Keyo: **Okay, first off, apologies for missing the update last week, and being late this week. I wound up in a bit of a funk and Eight really requires me to be in a good mood to write, I'm not very funny when I'm down in the dumps.

Second, who the hell is Joanna? I'm not telling you anything.

Thirdly, this chapter could probably have been better. It feels like I could have put more in, but I just couldn't find it within myself to write. Still, I feel it went quite well, a decent amount of pop culture references and displays of Eight's mad intelligence.

So what else is there to say? Eight reveals to us that all of his character points were dumped into the social stats, rather than physical, that Shademon is evil, antisocial, and lazy, as well as some of the rules for moving through shadows.


	41. Chapter 41

Clambering through the sands was the great battle ship known as Ex Vee', the Roman Numerals of XV' were marked upon its side

**Keyo:** Everything belongs to who it is meant to belong to. I won't steal your stuff if you don't steal mine.

On the topic of stealing stuff, there's a reference in here that I will be seriously impressed if _anyone_, bar the person I put it in for, gets it.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Clambering through the sands was the great battle ship known as Ex Vee', the Roman Numerals of XV' were marked upon its side. Its body bore the shape of a battleship, but there were few who would find that as the most noticeable aspect of its appearance. Seven heads sat upon its prow, three upon each side in an upside down triangle formation, while the seventh sat as figurehead. Three heads possessed a graceful beauty, of an incomparable degree, while the other three were twisted, as if tortured and trapped in incomprehensible pain. The last, the figurehead, was a mix. One side was beautiful, smooth skin and glistening eyes with full lips and soft hair flowing back onto the deck, while the other side was twisted and burnt, an eye patch seemed to be nailed into place while its half of the lips were sewn shut with what looked like barbed wire. This half had its scalp shaved clean, and instead had thick pipes piercing the flesh and leading back into the ship like body.

Pipes were a large theme of the ship, all of them thick and sturdy, a gushing sound running through them. In places, the hazardous network had small ports built in to allow a crew member to check the flow, and if they were, they would see a thick red liquid rushing through, and only those with strong enough stomachs would dare tell you of the smell in created in the engine room. The whole ship moved gracefully on six pairs of lion legs, each adorned in glistening silver armour, creating a rattling which helped drown out the gasping breaths of the many heads as it moved. Flesh, scale, caprice, and eyes seemed to mix seamlessly with the steel that comprised the vessel, along with ten towering horns that jutted out from the deck, while pristine white wings could be seen folded up along the sides. Deep in the ships bowels, sharp grunts could be heard as Grademon ground his teeth together, suppressing any cries of pain. The golden warrior was strapped down to a metal table in what looked like a cross between a hospital room and a mechanics workshop, a metal bar ran between his legs as if trying to force them into a certain shape.

"Honestly, you pride types infuriate me to no end, chk."

Stalking about the room in a bird like fashion was a dark clad figure, body masked beneath a long medieval overcoat, face hidden under a close worn, broad rimmed hat and behind a skeletal white mask, dominated by a large curved beak, the eyes obscured by circular red lenses. His hands were visible, and were thin, bony and unbelievably pale. One hand held a long, stern looking wooden cane, which was oddly pointed upward.

"Both of your legs shattered and instead of signalling for help, you insist on making matters worse by dragging yourself back through the canyon, getting completely lost, chk."

"Hmph. As if you, who hides behind his freaks, could understand a warrior's pride!" The armoured Digimon barked in response.

"They are not freaks! Chk!" The black clad Digimon barked back, twisting the cane in his hands expertly to slam several blows into Grademon's legs. Stripped down of their heaviest armour, the blows caused Grademon to respond in the most verbal manner he would allow, with vicious death threats, the noise causing a light to spring up in a dark corner as a blue eye lit up and glared at the arguing pair.

"Oy oy…keep it down you two or…" The voice of Rapidmon spoke out from the gloom, the green warrior habitually stopping to allow his black partner to carry on the threat, and gave a grunt when he remembered his fate.

"Don't you start too, chk," The masked figure glared back, swinging his cane around to point at the prone Digimon.

"Please calm yourself, Yersinimon," a melodic voice floated into the room, accompanied by the light footfalls of the owner.

"Lord Pride!" Grademon and Rapidmon cried out in unison, Grademon even forgoing his usual hmph.'

Into the room strode a tall, humanoid Digimon. He easily made seven feet and his appearance certainly fitted him as the commander of XV, his whole attire following a mix of demonic and angelic as four black bat-like wings sprouted from one side of his back, while the other was blessed with four of white feather. His face, however, seemed mostly angelic, sharp handsome features and long blonde hair.

"Lucemon, chk," Yersinimon curtly greeted, giving the winged Digimon glance before turning back to the tools that he had previously laid out upon a workbench.

"You will refer to Lord Pride with full respect filthy plague bringer!" Grademon roared at Yersinimon.

"And you will treat me with respect you idiotic ingrate! Chk!" The black Digimon returned, along with his complementary violence as he beat at Grademon's legs again.

"Please Doctor," Lucemon moved to appease, his voice soft, melodious, bearing a certain tone that couldn't help but command attention, Grademon and Rapidmon instantly gave over their full attention to their Lord, while Yersinimon's reaction was to sharply turn around and point his stick under the Pride Lord's nose, his ruby lenses seeming to glimmer for a moment.

"Still thy silver tongue, I am deaf to its tones, chk," The Doctor warned.

"As you wish," Lucemon smiled in a fashion that was sickeningly pleasant before turning on heel and walking over to Rapidmon, turning on he over head lights to reveal the battered ultimate.

"My Lord, I am not worthy of your presence, especially having returned…defeated." His head turned shamefully down.

"You're opponent did not give you the chance to die in battle," Lucemon consoled, gently caressing the battered armour and severed joints. "Both of you were denied your pride, but as long as it is within my power, and you have the will to stand, I will see that you are able to reclaim it."

"Thank you, sir," Rapidmon seemed almost chocked up.

"Yersinimon, how long until they are fixed?" The Pride Lord asked of the dark Doctor.

"They'll be done when they're done, chk," Yersinimon shot back, not even looking up from Grademon's legs, the warrior struggling to hold his tongue as Lucemon gave him a glance. "But don't worry, I sent an agent up ahead to keep track of your prey for you, as it seems some of your men have no sense of direction, chk."

"Hmph! My pride is in my blades, not my map reading!" Grademon shot back.

"As if I care, chk."

"Hmph!"

"Chk!"

"Hmph!"

"Chk!"

With a small wave, Lucemon decided to escape the argument and turned to leave. He had intended to ask Yersinimon about the reports both Grademon and Rapidmon had brought to him about Digimon capable of spontaneous evolution, but he decided it could wait. He was after all, a very patient Digimon.

As warm as the room had become upon his arrival, the air seemed to turn cold upon his departure.

As XV drew up to the mountain range, it proceeded to draw to a halt, before a its heads let out a wail, its wings fanned out and with a shudder, the lion's legs erupted, tearing apart as great spider legs burst out from within. Settling back down again, it began to use the changed limbs to climb through the canyons and mountain ways.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Of Blood and Binary

Chapter 41: Of Souls and Swords (Part 1)

Shadows Loom, a brief rest in Shanty Town!

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Hold still!"

"I'm trying!"

In the sparse set up that functioned as the staff bathroom aboard the Trailmon, BB sat with towel around his waist as Vincent brutally assaulted his hair in an effort to remove the remains of the gunk and smell that remained tangled within.

"Honestly, how did you manage to get it in your hair!? I thought you were wearing a skull cap?" The older boy growled as he grabbed the showerhead and once more sprayed his companion down.

"The whole thing just sort of…blew up!" BB gesticulated wildly. "It's hardly my fault."

"Well if it happens again don't trail it all into my kitchen okay?" BB grumbled his consent. "Now," Vincent pulled out a fine metal comb, "this may hurt a bit."

Crying out as the comb was once more pulled through his matted hair BB couldn't help but think that his armour coated partner had it easy.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Atop the rearmost of Trailmon's carriages, Bulletmon sat. His feet were looped through the top rung of the ladder that allowed them access as he stared back along the track, waiting for the force of the wind created by Trailmon's high speed to air blast the remains of the foul odour from his body.

"I think it is working, Lieutenant," Bulletmon twisted his head around as he called over the roaring wind.

"I told you! Either call me Komodomon, or become my follower and call me Aniki'!" The red lizard cried back.

"I apologise," Bulletmon bowed his head. "I shall endeavour to remember to call you Komodomon from now on."

"Oh? Don't want to be my follower?"

"I cannot accept such an offer; it would have to be the decision of Kaiser." His eyes, surrounded by the darkness of his helm, blinked. "By the way Komodomon, if I may be so bold as to ask, what are you doing up here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Komodomon roared back. "I'm training!"

With the claws on his feet dug into the metal, Komodomon stood, boldly facing the wind and punching against it. Every so often, he would make hops around, often sliding back as he tried to move around while resisting the wind.

"That Grademon guy managed to kick all of our asses!" The red Digimon grunted. "I gotta make sure I can take him next time we meet."

"But Lieutenant-Colonel Vincent was able to save us," Bulletmon reassured.

"You don't have to call him by title…" Komodomon sighed into the wind. "That's not the point." He resumed his loud calls and punches. "Vinnie was only just able to pull us out of the fire, that guy's at the ultimate level and I don't think you'll be becoming Panzermon again anytime soon, and who knows when we'll work out how I'm gonna evolve." Komodomon's punches became faster and more furious. "So I'm gonna have to be able to beat him at the champion level! And if Vinnie can't use stat discs, then I'm just gonna have to get stronger!"

It's so screwed up though, Komodomon thought as he worked. In the game world, when trouble kicked up, Vinnie'd be all over it with the mod cards, boosting me up and giving me the gear I need. But over here he's pretty helpless…and yet he was still the one who had to save _us!_ I need…I _should_ be able to protect him and everyone else!'

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"A-WooooOOOooog!!" Trailmon called as he drew up to the station. Every carriage was full of motion as the transport Digimon was emptied. Once the last few passengers exited, and the last of the luggage was hauled off, the train like Digimon rolled on towards a set of sheds, pausing to have his carriages detached, carried away by a bulkier model of Trailmon, and the big toothed Digimon gave a sigh of relief and a small shake, relishing in the release of weight, before trundling onto the turn table and backing into one of the sheds, sinking down with a second sigh as he took to resting.

"Are we in Tsuyunoinochi now?" Komodomon asked as he and the rest of the crew disembarked from Trailmon's driver cabin.

"Does this tiny model of a town look like a prestigious city of a Lord?" Kotemon began in full pompous form, before a quieting hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Kotemon…" Yasyamon warned with a stern look.

"Sorry Sensei," The short kendoist bowed his head, before extending the apologies to the others.

Why are these two even here?' Conductor Gazimon thought to himself. I didn't employ them.'

"So where are we then?" Komodomon asked as they stepped out into the town.

"This is Shanty," Yasyamon explained. "It was originally an outpost village but when the Trailmon lines began to grow, it began to expand into a full town."

"And we'll be staying here until tomorrow evening. Trailmon need to eat y'know," Gazimon explained.

Looking over the mix of buildings, from run down sheds to full stone houses, to tents, all dominated by a five tier Pagoda, Vincent couldn't help but think of Fossil Town. It was the same, a town that just sprung up on its own, with no real concrete style or shape, just sprawling out, each building fitting the custom of whoever built it. The sense it gave off was so familiar that Vincent almost felt at home for the first time since arriving in the Digital World.

Komodomon, however, was right at home.

"Allllllll-Right! Civilisation!" He bounced as the group walked on towards the centre of the sheds where a rather ramshackle office building stood.

"You can go nuts later," Gazimon cautioned as he led them on. "First, we have to check in and pick up our pay!"

"I thought we were just working off our one trip?" Vincent inquired, eye brow cocked.

"You kiddin'? It's not that expensive to go to Tsuyunoinochi, you guys worked it all off mid-way through day two! I just kept going because it's a pain in the ass to try and run the whole Trailmon by myself," the grey furred Digimon chuckled.

"What…" BB growled darkly, causing the Virus type to gulp as the boy continued to talk, his speech punctuated by shudders. "You mean that…I had to do all that…put my hands in…get covered in…and… I WAS PAID UP AFTER TWO DAYS!!" For a few tense seconds, BB simply heaved, dragging in breaths as he seemed to be shuddering in a battle for control of his own will, before suddenly snapping again. "YOU'RE MINE!!" He cried, lunging for his employer, only to give out a gack' as Vincent caught his collar and pulled him back.

"Calm down BB," he chided. "This way we managed to earn some money for ourselves."

"I suppose you're right," the boy huffed, and Gazimon let out a sigh of relief, before sucking it back in as BB shot him a killer look, conveying a single message. This isn't over.'

Entering the office, the first thing to strike the new comers was that the entire place was filled with Gazimon. Some were dressed as conductors and were checking pigeon holes, chatting with each other, or collecting mail bags, while others wore business suits, or business skirts and were working away at desks, either organizing files and reports, or monitoring the lines.

"Gazimon!" One of the desk bound Gazimon in a white blouse and black skirt called as the Trailmon conductor entered, waving over with a hand bearing well manicured, red painted, claws.

"Gazimon!" The conductor returned, bounding over and shaking his friend's hand, more of the employees taking notice of the arrival and rushing over to extend their own greetings.

"Hey Gazimon!"

"Gazimon!"

"How's it goin' Gazimon?"

"Gazimon, you old dog, it's been ages!"

Lifting his Digivice, BB prepared to scan the Digimon in the room, before Komodomon placed a warning hand on his wrist.

"These guys are driving me nuts enough as it is. If you fill up space with a scan of them as well, I will roast you in your sleep."

"How was your trip Gazimon?"

"It was just fine Gazimon, no problems."

"Snagged yourself some staff eh Gazimon?"

"You know it Gazimon."

"So how's Gazimon doing Gazimon?"

"Doing about as well as Gazimon is Gazimon."

A collective sigh went up from the non-Gazimon who were stuck watching the scene of mass greetings.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Gonna by me a shirt!" Vincent sang.

"Gonna by him a shirt!" Komodomon sang back.

"It's gonna fit right!"

"It's gonna fit right!"

"Maybe one black…"

"Maybe one black…"

"Maybe one white…"

"Maybe one white…"

"Who cares about shirts?!" BB cried out, darting ahead of the group. "I'm going to go and find a toy store! Or a candy store! Or a…toy-candy store!"

Having finished enduring the trials of the local Trailmon office, the group of travellers bid their conductor fair well for now' as they set off to explore the town, planning on using their rest stop in order to do just that, rest. Of course, there were other things to be taken care of first.

"Nut-uh," Vincent wagged a finger. "You've eaten enough sweet stuff to last you a good two months, and I don't think toys are gonna be very practical on a long journey."

"Spoil sport," BB proceeded to blow a raspberry at the older boy, before having his attention snared by Komodomon who waved him over to a shop window that seemed to be filled with a variety of shrunken heads, the pair being promptly joined by a curious, and poorly concealing it, Kotemon, and an anxious Bulletmon.

"This is the most relaxed I've seen you Vincent-san," Yasyamon looked to the teenager.

"I guess all the work on the train gave me something else to focus on," Vincent confessed. "It made for a nice distraction, and I really don't want to ruin our stop here by spending it sulking." He gave a small sigh, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be lumping my worries on you. You've got enough to deal with."

"It is quite alright, I assure you," Yasyamon pacified.

"What are you planning to do about…y'know?" Vincent gave a small wave as means of gesticulation.

"I'm unsure," Yasyamon bowed his head. "If I make a fuss here, then I may alert any spies in the Pride's forces to our location, but if I do not, there is a chance this town will be swept away as well."

"This town isn't important in any way, is it?" Vincent asked, looking at the crowds of Digimon that surrounded them.

"Not strategically, no," Yasyamon replied. "But it is a link to the Trailmon lines and there is a wealth of materials here for the taking, so it wouldn't be a loss to attack it…and besides, if we are here…"

Without realizing it, the two had come to stand back to back, the hairs on their necks standing upright as their eyes scanned the crowds, hands twitching, ready to strike, hidden away beneath their cloaks as they found their bodies pushing to be on full alert.

"Heh…all of a sudden all I can think of is where's the spy,'" Vincent confessed, sweat beginning to leak out for reasons other than heat.

"I know what you mean," Yasyamon responded.

"Heh…it's made me all tense again," Vincent tried to chuckle, looking up when Yasyamon let out a strained sigh.

"Yes…I suppose we're going to get paranoid standing around thinking like this," The swordsman turned and clapped a hand upon the human's shoulder. "Go and buy your shirts, and I'll run an errand of my own. Then we'll meet up under the Pagoda. I know a place that will help us unwind."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Nemure?" Vincent quirked an eyebrow at the sign that hung from the Victorian style manor house.

"It's one of the best inns I know." Yasyamon explained. "It may not be the fanciest, but it has good rates, good food, and most importantly…"

"A hot spring," Vincent finished, receiving a querying look from Yasyamon. "I've read about this place before…in a story …back home…" Vincent explained, haltingly.

"Well, if the Digital World is made up from information from the real world, it shouldn't be too surprising to see familiar things here," Komodomon reasoned.

"Hm." Yasyamon sounded non-commital. "In any case, let us check in and then we can unwind in the hot spring and think matters over."

"Sounds great," Vincent grinned.

"Count me out," BB crossed his hands in a sign of defiance. "That hot spring stuff is only ever in girly manga and stuff…"

"Suit yourself," Yasyamon shrugged as he began to move in, shouldering his purchase, whatever it was, (a very long object wrapped up in a wealth of brown paper.)

"You're still gonna have to bathe," Vincent cautioned before the rest followed.

The interior was largely what you would expect of a Victorian manner. Neatly wall papered walls, oak beams and staircases, plush red carpets, leather couches, and pictures on every wall and a healthy spattering of side tables supporting a variety of vases, each containing a different species of blooming flower.

"Phweee…" Komodomon let out, in lieu of a whistle. "This is some fancy digs. You sure we can afford this place?"

"They're rates are surprisingly good here," Yasyamon led them towards the check-in desk. "I sometimes think the owner doesn't know anything about finance."

Before he could even touch the call bell on the check in desk, a green monkey, like Digimon, clad in a leopard print toga, suddenly popped up from behind the counter.

"KO-NEE-CHEE-WA!" She cried in a cheery, sing-song voice.

"Waaaaah!!" The group reeled back in shock, save for Yasyamon who seamed unfazed.

"Hello Monmon, how are you today?" The swordsman, in a cheerier tone than any of the group had heard him use before, though as they all struggled to recover from the sudden surprise, they didn't quite notice.

"Ah! Yasya-chan, it's been so long since you last visited!" The little monkey Digimon seemed to be trying to scold him, but just sounded too cheery, her spiky ponytail bobbed as she vigorously nodded to herself. "Mmm, hmm. So long. I suppose you're wanting a room?"

"That would be nice." Yasyamon produced a wallet from under his cloak. "We're just staying the one night."

"Okie dokies!" Monmon beamed, snatching up the wallet and vanishing beneath the desk for afew moments, before reappearing and handing back the wallet and a room key. "Will you be using the hot-spring tonight?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Then I'll go and get towels ready for you! Take care Yasya-chan!"

And with that, she vanished beneath the counter again. Tentatively, Vincent and the rest stepped forward and peered over, finding it to be empty, and gave a sigh of relief.

"One more thing!" Monmon appeared again, once more sending the group screaming across the room. "Tonight's soup is Wild Potato Mushroom and Passion Eggplant!"

And with that, she was gone.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Ahhhh…" Vincent sighed as he sank into the warm water. "Y'know…I've always wanted to try out a set of hot springs." The youth gave a grunt as he stretched out before sinking low enough that the water came up to his chin. Though I never thought I'd visit one under such strange circumstances, or with such strange people,' He thought to himself.

At present, Yasyamon was lounging across from him, stripped down and wrapped in a towel naturally, but his mask remained on. Under the miniature, artificial waterfall, set up to run off of the springs water, Komodomon and Kotemon sat, the latter still in full kendo gear, allowing the hot water to cascade over themselves.

"What are you two doing anyway?" Vincent asked.

"Training!" They both barked at once.

"I won't lose to that Grademon again!" Komodomon cried out, clenching his claws into a fist.

"I can't allow some back-water lizard to be seen putting in more effort than an elite student such as myself!" Kotemon replied, lifting a soggy sleeve as if in defiance.

For a brief moment, the two passed a heated glare towards one another that seemed to funnel tension into the air, before it was dispelled as the two broke out in hearty laughter, slinging their raised arms around one another's shoulders and proceeding to break out in a chocking fit as they tilted their heads too far back and wound up swallowing a rush of hot water.

A silent look passed between Vincent and Yasyamon, before the latter began to speak.

"That reminds me." The Swordsman began. "I was curious, how exactly are you and BB-San able to create that effect of rapid evolution?"

"I'm…not sure." Vincent confessed, raising his right hand from the water to stare at it. "Back in the game world, I would just activate the programme and it would run from there…when Grademon attacked us…I can't remember what I did…before I could even think about it my hand was glowing and my Digivice was channelling the energy to make Komodomon Digivolve…I think."

"You think?"

"We weren't exactly able to study how Digivolution worked before we came here," Vincent continued. "So we aren't even really sure what happens, and how it affects us as partners…but we do believe that to Digivolve, the Digivice, that round thing I showed you, it absorbs some energy from us to give to the Digimon."

"I see," Yasyamon nodded. "And the more energy you give, the further they can evolve?"

"Pretty much…I think." Vincent closed his eyes in a thoughtful look. "When evolving to champion, only our hands glowed. But from what I've been told, when BB managed to evolve Bulletmon to his Ultimate Level, his whole body began to glow." He decided not to mention what, exactly, had happened when Richard and Agumon had achieved the Mega Level, that pushed even the limits of Vincent's belief.

"I see," Yasyamon nodded again. "I have a theory which may help you utilize this power better, if you're willing to let me try it out later."

"Not a problem," Vincent nodded back, letting his hand sink below the surface again. "I'm going to need all the help I can get if we're going to survive and find the others." There was a moment of pause. "Have you…thought of a plan yet?"

"I've decided it would simply be best to leave as fast as possible," Yasyamon sighed. "Pride presently wants to stop us from reaching Tsuyunoinochi. While there are certain gains to attacking Shanty, they are likely not enough to draw their army here."

"So Shanty's only in danger as long as we're here," Vincent concluded.

"Most likely," Yasyamon agreed, allowing silence to sink in.

"I just want you to know," Vincent's voice was quite serious, if a little nervous, "I'm not on your side in this war thing. Too many conflicts don't have a good side', so I'm not gonna throw my lot in with you and risk the lives of everyone I'm meant to be looking after for all this…but I will help you get back to Tsuyunoinochi."

"Hm. That is probably the right plan for you just now," Yasyamon nodded.

"Just…lettin' ya know…"

"Don't worry, I understand." Yasyamon nodded. "And I feel I must offer you a similar warning." The warrior's eyes grew grave. "While I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt just now, I am not wholly convinced of your story, that you are from another world. And if you prove to be a threat to the people of Tsuyunnoinochi, then I will cut you call down myself."

"I see."

The silence returned.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Sassin' frassin' idiots!" Ranamon muttered as she stormed through the streets of Shanty. "Ah can appreciate Yersnimon asking me, with all mah amazing trackin' skills to go lookin' for these fellas, but every girl's got her limit, and ah think these descriptions are mine." With her finny protrusions bristling, the frog type Digimon pulled out the sheet of paper Yersnimon had provided her with. " One wears a cloak and has hands and legs, another wears a cloak and has hands and legs but is shorter, another wears a helmet, another is red and has claws, another is green, and wears a helmet, and the other has hands and legs and is short…'" Bristling, she scrunched up the descriptions. "Ah can just tell what that varmint Grademon would say…'My pride is in my fighting, not my descriptions!'" She ranted, her impression startlingly accurate. "Forget it, ahm findin' mahself an inn for the night.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Phew…I think I'm at my limit," Vincent announced, rising.

"Wuss," Komodomon commented, being sure to keep his head down so as not to inhale any water again.

"I'm from a cold country, sue me," Vincent waved back at his partner as he exited, being sure to keep his towel up.

"I think I will retire as well," Yasyamon rose. "I have things to do. Kotemon, you had best come as well."

"Why?" The student looked to his master.

"Because we're going to have to dry your equipment out," The senior Kendoist resisted the urge to sigh as a look of revelation came over his student.

"Oh, gotcha," Kotemon nodded. "You coming Komodomon?"

"Nah, I think I'll stay here a bit longer." Komodomon grinned.

Once everyone had returned to the inn, Komodomon let out a sigh and slid from his perch under the waterfall and into the spring proper.

"Finally!" He beamed, floating on his back, gazing up at the moons above. "I thought they'd never leave." Grinning like a maniac, he flipped around to his front and began to sway his body, swimming in traditional lizard fashion through the water, relishing in the heat. It wouldn't do for me to enjoy a soak in front of everyone…it would ruin my tough guy image.'

There was a sudden click as the door to the springs opened again, and in a flash and a splash, Komodomon launched himself back under the waterfall, resuming his training pose and regretting that the noise of the water obscured the sound of any footfalls. It would have been nice to show off predicting who was coming in by just the sound.

"Ah do declare that this is just what the good Docmon ordered! Oh!"

Cracking an eye open, Komodomon found himself looking at the towel wrapped form of a Ranamon, staring at him in mild surprise. He supposed he did look rather odd sitting under the little waterfall.

Staring back, Ranamon's fins flapped briefly before she blinked, taking in the Digimon under the waterfall.

Red and with claws,' She thought to herself. If ah hadn't passed seven other Digimon like that ah'd think there was somethin' in this.'

Deciding that he didn't need to keep up the tough guy look, Komodomon's mind turned to the question of how to get out from under the waterfall without looking weird. After all, in the presence of a cute girl a man had to keep looking tough, he just didn't need to be sitting under the waterfall to do it right now.

"Good evening," he waved, grinning with a little bit of nerves.

"Evenin'," She returned, with a similar wave, before sinking down into the water.

A few seconds of embarrassed silence passed.

I really want down…' Komodomon thought despairingly.

"If yah don't mind mah askin', what are yah doin' up there?" Ranamon asked, curiosity having gotten the better of her.

"Oh this?" Komodomon gestured to the fall. "Just trying to train."

"Oh? You some sorta athlete?" Ranamon asked.

"Nah, I got my butt kicked by this Grademon guy, so I'm trying to toughen up…although, I think my legs have fallen asleep." His grin bashful, Komodomon's thoughts were more triumphant. Yes, looking tough, but still mortal, and I get to come down! Komodomon, you are a genius!'

Grademon…Red with claws…Shinin' stars above, not only ahm a brilliant, ahm lucky too!' Ranamon internally celebrated, as the red reptile slid down from his perch and back into the spring. I'll use this chance to get real cozy like to him and sneak all sorts of useful information from him. This is bound to get meh a heap o' rewards from Yersinimon.'

"Well, it's always best to know when to relax, and when to train," Ranamon continued. "And a hot spring is made for relaxin'!"

"I suppose you're right," Komodomon grinned. "Miss…?"

"Ranamon." The aquamarine Digimon extended a hand.

"Komodomon," The red Digimon returned, taking her hand a placing a gentlemanly kiss upon on it.

"My. You are quite the gentleman, aren't you?" Ranamon flattered. Suckah,' She thought.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"I don't think I'm getting this," Vincent groaned.

"My knees hurt…" BB whined.

"Meditation isn't always easy," Yasyamon instructed.

Sitting in the Inn's common room, clad in fresh white yukata, Vincent and BB were engaged in Yasyamon's experiment to reproduce the ability to evolve that was likely to be necessary to their survival. The Digimon himself was engaged in shaping the lengths of wood he had purchased, crafting them into new boken.

"You need to try and focus on the sensation you feel when you summon the energy to allow your… partners', was it, to Digivolve. Especially you, BB-San." He pointed towards the boy with his carving blade. "As you are were able to create an ultimate level Digimon once."

"And I told you that I don't remember what I was feeling exactly…I was kinda feeling a lot of things and they're all jumbled together…" BB explained awkwardly, nursing his head.

"I think half an hour of trying this is enough for now," Vincent decided, uncrossing his legs and rising, only to stumble. "And my legs are asleep." He sighed, flat on his back as the other occupants of the room laughed.

"I'm surprised Komodomon isn't back yet," Kotemon looked up from his own meditation, despite having taken on a yukata to wear, it was several sizes too big, and he still wore his helmet, leaving as covered up as always. "You don't think he drowned do you?" The young swordsman asked with a hint of macabre glee.

"I doubt it," Vincent grunted, righting himself and nursing his numb legs. "Hot waters are part of his natural climate, he probably just started splashing around after we left or…"

"Oh I agree, slimy moss is definitely the best thing to lie back on when it's too hot Rana-Rana," Komodomon's voice began to float into the room.

"Ah know! Ah mean, a good soak in mud keeps ya cool, but sometimes yah just wanna enjoy the heat, right Komo-Komo?" Ranamon's voice joined him.

"…he started talking…" Vincent sighed.

"Hey guys!" Komodomon waved as he and Ranamon entered the room. "I'd like you all to meet Ranamon."

"Howdy!" The amphibious Digimon waved to the assembled group, receiving a variety of responses in return.

"We didn't miss dinner did we?" The reptile eagerly asked.

"Monmon said it would be ready soon," Vincent answered.

"Great! Yah know, as much as ah liked the sound of that soup, ah hope there's something grilled," Ranamon thoughtfully tapped her chin.

"I know what you mean," Komodomon entered his sage-nodding mode. "After a good hot soak, something grilled always tastes better."

"Though it does make yah thirsty Komo-Komo!"

"True enough Rana-Rana!" Komodomon responded, before the two burst out into laughter.

What's up with those nicknames' and what the hell is so funny?' were the major thoughts to pass through the room, though there was a singularly different one that belonged only to Ranamon.

Ah've got this feelin' that ah was meant to be doin' somethin'…'

But this was promptly shrugged off as Monmon came to announce that dinner was ready.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

**Raven: **Y'know, I was really worried that my 41 notes would be barren with very little to actually talk about. This is a good set-up chapter, but there isn't much else going on, and I already said I was gonna give the answer to our little contest next chapter, so that was out. And then, we got graced by a little review from AwesomeTai.

What, you thought we didn't notice, MagnificenTakuya? Personally, we're wondering why you didn't do Takato next.

All joking aside, I really appreciated your review and would like to devote these notes to a debate over your points. It was good to see somebody trying to look at Eight Ball as something more than the comic relief we'd turned him into. But there is character development in there, it just seems like nobody has found it yet. We haven't expanded on it because we want our readers to find out about him at the same time his comrades do. Since he's by himself, and Shademon cares very little about anything, it wasn't the appropriate time to tell you who Eight Ball is or why he's there. He probably wouldn't want to say anything anyway until he got a bigger audience.

As for WarGreymon, we had intended in our original build of the story for Richard to already be dead and be a major motivation for Liz, but as we changed her, we changed him as well, and even now that Rich's death is here, she isn't going to turn into the original idea we had for her. Are the other's gonna surpass him? Probably. Are they gonna surpass WarGreymon from Adventure 01 and 02? Probably not. That's the major thing, this is NOT the same level of power. While Richard could, with time, get to that level, his freshly evolved form was a lot less stronger, which was why his Terra Force failed the first time he tried to use it. And anyone will tell you, TyrantKabuterimon is not a minor boss. Do we have bigger bosses planned? Yes, but they're WAY down the line and we won't see anything eclipse TyrantKabuterimon in a good, long while.

Haven't seen a good critique like that in a while. It means we're misleading people in all the right places

**Keyo:** Every so often, Raven does huge notes, and I feel it makes our story look misleading in size.

So this chapter was actually done on Friday, then I got paranoid, and Eight couldn't get it back to me until Sunday, when I was trapped in another part of the country. In any case, Ranamon's back and I got some practice trying to write an accent. Her role in all this is going to be a little bit interesting…provided she can stay on topic.

I really don't have much to say for some reason…I think I'll just save some space and enjoy responding to all reviews.

To MagificenTakuya, loved your review, leave an e-mail next time so I can respond.

Take care, and see you all next time!

Keyo & Raven

P.S This would have been up Monday, but I fell asleep in the middle of the upload.


	42. Chapter 42

"Focus." Yasyamon instructed, before tossing the small white ball into the air and bouncing it across the green table. "Keep your eye on my 'attack' but always keep your surroundings in mind." He continued as he and Komodomon bounced the ping pong ball back and forward, before suddenly, without warning, Yasyamon snatched up a second ball with his free hand and threw it across the table, Komodomon just managing to deflect it with one claw, grunting as he stretched to keep up the rally. He succeeded in striking the ball, but instead sent it flying across the room, where it rebounded off of Vincent's head.

"Woah…sorry Vince." Komodomon called over, pausing when he got no reaction. "Vince?"

"I think he's managed to gain an understanding of meditation." Yasyamon offered, walking over to where the boy sat, cross-legged.

"Really?" Komodomon blurted, darting over and poking his partner in the shoulder. Repeatedly. "Wow, he's pretty far gone!" Komodomon beamed, continuing his poking, failing to notice how his partner's face screwed up and his eyebrow twitched.

"Not that far." The youth growled, causing Komodomon to jump as the boy creaked his eyes open. "Komodomon, this really isn't easy. I would really appreciate you leaving me in peace."

"It can't be _that_ hard." Komodomon huffed. "BB hasn't moved at all through your fuss!" The lizard indicated the young boy, sitting, like Vincent, cross-legged on the floor.

"Hm?" Ranamon cocked an eye at the exuberant youth before padding across the lush carpet herself, holding an ear close to the boys form before looking him over. "Well I'll be." She grinned. "Ah do declare that this little one is all tuckered out, he's gone an' fallen asleep right where he sat."

With a grunt, Vincent pulled himself to his feet, better prepared this time for the sensation of his feet having gone to sleep, and took a moment to steady himself as he rose.

"I think BB has the right idea, it _is_ getting late. And I want to make the most of tomorrow before we leave." Checking his legs once more, the teen proceeded to carefully scoop the younger boy up into his arms, a skill developed from the times when his younger cousins would fall asleep on the couch. "I'll get BB to bed, you guys coming too?"

"I'm…" A long yawn broke Kotemon's speech, which he never seemed to quite recover from, before Yasyamon placed a and upon his back.

"I think we had best retire too." The elder swordsman nodded, his ward conceding, and accepted his senior's prompting with another yawn, shuffling off towards the stairs.

"You coming Komodomon?" Vincent looked to his partner.

"I think I'll hit the hot springs one more time." The red lizard confessed, stretching out.

"Sounds like a fine idea." Ranamon agreed.

"How can you too spend so much time in there?" Vincent asked. He had greatly enjoyed the hot springs, but he could only take so much of it.

"It's an amphibian, reptile thing." Komodomon shrugged. "We're built for warm waters, wet rocks…" Komodomon began to ramble, a happy, dazed look appearing on his face as he thought of his ideal climate.

"Moist swamp-lands, thick mud…" Ranamon continued, a similar dazed look consuming her visage.

"Humid air…" Komodomon returned.

"Lush foliage…" Ranamon smiled languidly.

Shaking his head, Vincent turned and resumed his walk up the stairs. He had heard Komodomon prattle on about swamps and the like before. He supposed his love of them was naturally, even if his colour was way off, he still had a komodo dragon as his base. However, this did not mean that he was willing to endure another tirade about how magnificent all the 'wet' and 'mud' were, not when he had a plush bed waiting for him, a welcome change from the thin, hard mats used in the employees cabin on Trailmon. Besides, Ranamon was proving not only able to enjoy the topic, but happily contribute as well, he doubted his presence as a member of the audience would be missed.

-- -- -- -- -- --

Of Blood and Binary

Chapter 42: Of Souls and Swords! (Part 2)

One step and then another, paths begin to cross!

-- -- -- -- -- --

A stream of bubbles that produced a sort of 'ooboobooboo' noise rose from before Ranamon and Komodomon, as they sat up to their nostrils in water, sighing contently. For long minutes they both simply sat, allowing the night air to fill only with the sounds of the faux waterfall and the breaths each took through their nostrils. They were content, and peaceful, their eyes gazing out at nothing in particular, kept moist by the occasional blink. Closing his eyes, Komodomon listened carefully. The hot springs at Nemure were surrounded by large trees, thick with leaves to keep the sounds of Shanty's night life out, but if he were to listen carefully, he could hear the vague sounds of people in the streets, and music and rickshaws, and clumsy engines, he could hear drunken singing and drunken arguments, sober singing and sober arguments, and way off in the distance, a strange 'a-wee-ooooh' of some variety of Trailmon as it began its nightly run.

'And it's all real.' The lizard thought to himself. 'Whenever Vincent would log off, I couldn't help but notice how empty the rest of the world was…all the people, all the Digimon in the town and shops, following behind their players…they were empty dolls…Even the Vincent that I could see, wasn't the real one…but now, here we are."

"Hey! Don't you be falling asleep now Komo-Komo."

"Hm?"

Opening his eyes, Komodomon looked over to where Ranamon sat, her head now elevated enough to allow her to speak.

"Ah'm the amphibious one, an' even ah can't actually _breathe_ underwater."

"I was just thinking Rana-Rana." Komodomon himself sat up straighter.

"Oh." Ranamon blinked. "Ah see." She said, before going silent and sinking down in the water again, looking a little lost. Komodomon considered doing the same, before a thought came to him.

"Hey Rana-Rana."

"Yes?" The frog Digimon rose back up.

"Could you tell me a bit about yourself?"

"Wh…Uh…huh?" Ranamon flushed, looking bewildered. "Why would you wan' to know about lil' ol' me for?"

"Well." Komodomon let his eyes roll up to the stars. "You're kinda the first person I've made friends with on this journey that hasn't involved life threatening danger, so I figure what you could tell me about your life isn't going to involve murder, pain, and death."

'Life threatening dange…' Ranamon began to repeat in her mind, before her eyes widened and she turned sharply, hunching over and hiding her expression in the water. 'Darn it! Ah got so caught up tryin' to act all friendly like, we actually got all friendly like! Yersinimon'll probably blow a stitch or three if he hears!"

"Uh…You okay Rana-Rana?" Komodomon asked, a confused and worried look upon his face as he tried to peer around.

"A-Ahm fine." Ranamon waved. "Mah towel just went and slipped a bit is all." She excused, hoping it would be enough to ward off the red Digimon.

"Feh. I don't see what the fuss is." Komodomon huffed.

"Some of us," Ranamon turned her head up. "wear a bit more than just training braces." She spoke in reference to her blue swimsuit, currently left in the springs changing room.

"Fine, fine." Komodomon waved in a pacifying manner.

"Yah know…I'm startin' to feel pretty darn tired, ah think ah'll go and hit the hay for the night." The frog like Digimon once again excused as she began to make her way out of the water, leaving Komodomon blinking in his usually geko-like fashion.

"Uh…Okay." He half uttered. "See you tomorrow."

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

"I expected you to report before this, chk." Yersinimon's voice was sharp, annoyed, and barely audible due to a large amount of scrapping going on in the background.

Secure in her room at the inn, Ranamon sat upon her blue-blanketed bed, a large shell pressed against her face as she utilized it to contact her superiors. Dried off, she had taken a few moments to compose herself in order to deal with the demanding Digital Doctor, before she had made the call.

"Sorry sah." Ranamon apologised, speaking into the conch like shell. "Ah managed to locate the targets and ah was obtaining some information of tactical use on them before ah reported in."

'Ah'm doin' a lot of coverin' up today.' The tracker thought to herself as she hoped that Yersinimon would buy the story without the need for evidence, she wasn't quite sure if Komodomon had told her anything the masked Digimon would find useful.

"Unnecessary, chk." Yersinimon's voice faded for a moment as he turned away from whatever method of communication he was using to bark an order in a strange language, before returning. "Lucemon only desired their location, chk."

"Ahright, ahright." Ranamon waved, donning on an air of having been put out. "Honestly, I don't think you evah appreciate the amount of work ah do for you."

"Probably not, chk." Yersinimon replied in deadpan, clearly not considering Ranamon to be worth arguing with. "Their location, chk." He inisited.

"Their all here in Shanty." Ranamon confessed with a huff, if Yersinimon was going to be rude, she would leave supplying co-ordinates to him. "If that's all you're after, I'd rather like to get back to enjoyin' this place before y'all go and blow it up."

"As you wish, chk." Yeresinimon curtly replied, his interest in the conversation now even less than it was before, when it had been sustained by his irritation with Ranamon's absence of punctuality. It was rather clear he was not enthralled with running what he likely considered 'trifling errands' for Lucemon. "I shall be returning to base soon, chk. It seems are moving forward at last, so you had best return soon, there shall be a lot of work to do, chk."

"Whatever you say sah." Ranamon gave a curt military salute, which Yersinimon received with a derisive snort, before there came a sound of 'fizz-voip' as the connection closed off.

"Well, that's that." Ranamon shrugged at the conch, before throwing it casually back into the duffel bag from which she had pulled it. Peering from her window, she could hear the sound of Shanty nightlife and the running of water in the hot springs below, where Komodomon's head was just visible as he drifted through the water. 'It's probably bettah this way.' She thought to herself, before closing the shutters and lying down to sleep.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Komodomon…oy, Komodomon…"

Receiving no response from his verbal efforts, Vincent seized upon the long pole and net, traditionally used for removing unwanted waste from the spring without the need to enter, reversed it in his grip, and in a fine pool hall fashion, butted his partner square in the head with the pole end, resulting in an eruption of splutters as the red Digimon was forced awake, and proceeded to inhale a large amount of hot water as he struggled to find his footing and avoid drowning, clinging to the pole for support as he gained his bearings, which in this case was deducing who the hell had just punted him with a stick, and clearing his lungs (or whatever mechanism Digimon used to breathe) enough to yell abuse at them.

"Why the hell did you do that Vincent?" He glowered up at his human companion, who stood fully dressed, sans cloak, at the spring's side.

"You weren't waking up, and I wasn't going to get wet." The teen explained in simple terms.

"Wh?" Komodomon took a moment to look puzzled, before registering the sun which was once again up in the sky, bathing the hot spring in light, and his own position in the warm waters. "Oooooh." Komodomon's head nodded as he let out the sound with an air of having now understood, and preceded to relinquish his hold upon the pole as he made his way to shore.

"Honestly, I didn't know komodo dragons actually slept in the water." Vincent shrugged as he replaced the pole. "You looked like a great dozing alligator or something."

"Maybe." Komodomon responded as he reached shore, and did an imitation of Lupmon as he tried to shake himself dry, failing to dry much as he more no fur or hair. "I don't know much about either."

"Honestly though, " Vincent sighed as he handed a towel over to his companion. "I'm surprised none of the staff found you when they were closing the springs up."

"KO-NEE-CHEE-WA!!" A voice bearing a vigorous, natural cheer which seemed so unreasonable in the mornings suddenly exploded from behind Vincent, causing the youth to whirl around in surprise, as Komodomon, in his surprise, wound up tripping over his own feet and tail and went splashing back into the water.

"Monmon!" Vincent let out a gasp of relief as he tried, once more, to get his heart rate under control.

"I never found him," Monmon suddenly began to explain, completely ignoring the near double heart attacks her abrupt presence had caused. "because I thought that shiny red head of his was a rock!" She beamed; seemingly unaware of the incredulous expressions she was receiving. "Breakfast is ready!" She suddenly declared, before scampering off back into the inn proper, leaving her two guests blinking in her wake, before Komodomon looked to the now soggy article in his claws.

"I need a new towel." He commented, in an effort to fill the slightly stunned silence Monmon's overly vibrant energy had created.

Later, once Komodomon had dried himself, the pair joined the others at the breakfast table, a fine mahogany table with a lace sheet thrown over, silver trays were laid out with what at least looked like toast, and egg, and varying options of cereal and milk, though Vincent did recognise the passion eggplant nestled amongst more familiar looking fruit, and that BB was staring in mild confusion (which did not last long, having been becoming accustomed to the oddities of food in the digital world) at the contents of the banana fruit he had managed to uncover while peeling his orange. Dropping into a seat next to Kotemon, Komodomon immediately seized upon the entire available serving of the apparent bacon and brought it to his space, before seizing an aptly sized fork. He paused before beginning his rampant devouring, glancing over those assembled.

"Hey, where's Rana-Rana?" He inquired.

True enough, the frog girl Digimon was not present at the table, only his own group, and two other diners (a pair of Elecmon, who's already bright tones of red and purple were added to by a collection of cheap jewellery and gaudy sunglasses, giving a heavy impression of being stereo-typical tourists).

"She checked out." Monmon supplied, appearing form whatever void she occupied before springing out on people, in this case, with new pitchers of chilled milk. "Yup yup, this morning as soon as I opened up the reception."

"Oh." Komodomon sagged, looking rather crestfallen, enough so to warrant an inquisitive glance from his partner which was ignored. Putting at bay his disappointment of having been refused a chance to even say good-bye to his new friend, Komodomon proceeded to attack his breakfast with relish. While possessing more self restraint than Digimon such as Lupmon, Komodomon's appetite and love of food was no less and he swiftly began to clear away the bacon, while Vincent averted his eyes and contented himself with a bowel of cereal and some passion egg plant.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Duffel bag over her shoulder, Ranamon sullenly trod through Shanty. To avoid raising suspicion, she had opted to properly check out of Nemure, rather than simply slip away through the hot springs, but this left her seeking a new source of water with which to pull her vanishing act, and she was hurried in this endeavour by her desire to be out of the proverbial dodge, before Grademon and Rapidmon turned up. Arriving at a scenic fountain, Ranamon took a seat at the side and took one last look over the town as she prepared to make her exit.

'Ah'd like to think it's a shame about Komo-Kom…Komodomon.' She thought to herself. 'But in the end, everyone is rotten at their core. This way ah at least get to pretend he really was a good person.' With that, she lurched backwards, like a scuba diver making their entry into the water, before suddenly being seized by the shoulder and roughly yanked into the air. Now suspended, she found herself face to golden masked face with the taller, stronger, more agitated and prone to physical violence form of Grademon.

"Where. Is. He?" The restored warrior demanded in no uncertain terms.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Finishing his katas, Yasyamon returned his new boken to their holsters at his sides, feeling whole once more now that he had a pair of wooden swords. They were not, perhaps, the quality they would be if he had furnished them from the wood provided by the military stores back home, but they were (he believed) good enough quality to see him through the rest of the journey, provided they had no more high level pursuers.

"Everything ready?" He asked as the rest of the group filed out of the inn, Vincent making a last minute check through the duffel bag that the HoneyBeemon had provided them with.

"Yeah, that's everything." Vincent responded, zipping the bag shut while BB cleaned out his ear with a pinkie.

"So we're going now, yeah?" The youth asked.

"Yup." Vincent pushed a smile onto his face. "Back onto the rails."

"I'm not going to have to…y'know…" BB shuddered.

"Who knows how long we'll be stuck here." Vincent lamented. "I'd really rather be stuck here with enough money to get us around. And that means we have to work."

"Yeah, yeah." BB glowered. "I just wish it was less…disgusting…and sticky…and wet…"

"Okay, okay, we get the picture." Kotemon made light jabs at BB's head as he spoke, trying to dislodge the boy from his sudden stupor as he rambled on, painting a vague, but rather uncomfortably squishy, picture of his work upon the train.

Settling the bag on his shoulder, Vincent shook his head before clamping a hand on the shoulders of Kotemon and BB.

"Okay guys, let's get going before we miss the train." With a pat, he got the two moving as the group set off towards the station, the teen pausing for a moment as he realised one of their members wasn't moving.

"Hm?" The red Digimon turned from where he seemed to have been gazing off into space. "Sorry Vin, I was just enjoying the view. Are you sure we don't have time to check out more of the city?"

"Sorry Komodomon, but Shanty's just too out of the way to have decent odds of attracting any of the others."

"But we wound up here." Komodomon tried to justify.

"Yeah, on our way to a bigger city." Vincent paused for a moment as he took in Komodomon's rather sluggish posture and mannerisms. "I'm sorry partner, but we need to keep moving. I know you're excited about being in the real digital world and want to check it all out…so do I. But we're meant to be the ones in charge and we've got a responsibility to make sure everyone's okay. You know the danger we've managed to get ourselves into, what if everyone else is in trouble too? The Digital World is just as dangerous as we thought it would be, and if anything were to happen to…to…_anyone_…I…"

"Calm down." Komodomon spoke in a voice that seemed to be trying to find the right balance between command and soothing. Vincent had always taken his responsibilities seriously, and combined with his great ability to worry, the boy often seemed likely to stress himself into an early grave if you didn't intervene in his ravings. "I know, I know, and I'm sorry I let my mind wander so much."

"You guys coming or what?" BB's loud voice ripped through the air, more so than usual as he was actually trying for volume.

"Keep yer hair on!" Komodomon hollered back, before flashing his partner a grin as they began to move. "Don't worry buddy, everything's gonna be alright. You'll see, with the two of us working together, this whole adventure is going to be a piece of cake."

"Y'know…in some circles, that phrase is about as bad as 'it can't get any worse.'" Vincent smirked.

"You enjoying being detrimental to the whole, 'building up confidence' movement, don't you?"

"They had a seminar on that in school once, it was really boring."

"Like one of Apemon's lectures on internal security?"

"Yeah, only with less relevance, and fewer people throwing on random masks to relieve the boredom."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"They left?"

"Yup, yup." Monmon nodded from behind the counter.

Resisting the urge to nurse a growing headache (that Monmon's customary greeting hadn't helped) Ranamon sifted through the information that she had gathered (if the term could be used) the night before. Curse that red Digimon for being so charming, and curse the gold Digimon glowering at her through the window. It hadn't taken a genius to work out that when Grademon had said 'My pride is not in my patience', it had been more than an off hand comment on how long it had taken for her to lead them back through Shanty's chaotic, near hazardous, streets to get back to Nemure.

'Okay…he said they were all traveillin' together…headin' to that…place with the dumb long name…going by…' A snap of her fingers accompanied her break from her thoughts as Ranamon uttered one word. "Trailmon." And with that, she ran back out of the inn, Monmon waving cheerily in her wake.

"Okay, take-care, bye-bye!"

Exiting the inn, Ranamon's breath rushed from her body as she one more found herself being hauled into the air by Grademon.

"Where."

" 'Is. He'." The aquamarine Digimon finished, rolling her crimson eyes. "Ah know, ah remember." A grimace crossed her face as Grademon increased the pressure his golden claws were exerting upon her head.

"Hmph. Then you should also remember that my pride," The pressure he was applying increased again, as means of reinforcement. "does _not_ lie within my patience!"

Those who served the Lord Pride were few in number, little more than a single battalion, according some, fewer that fifty according to others. What was known for sure was that those who did serve him were strong, very strong, and amazingly driven in pursuit of their 'pride', often to the point of becoming single minded in it's pursuit, ignoring all inhibitions, even fatal wounds, and crushing all obstacles, even allies, to obtain their goal. Ranamon had no intention of being an obstacle.

"T-Trailmon!" She cried out, clutching at the claws in a vain effort to remove them as her body wrenched and contorted in pain and fear of death, or disfigurement, or whatever result Grademon should fancy upon. "The Trailmon Station! Ah!"

With the information he desired attained, Grademon promptly lost interest in Ranamon and dropped her to the ground, before turning on heel and facing towards the station, his royal blue cloak fluttering with the motion.

"Hmph. That…" He spoke to her, without facing her. "We can find ourselves."

Breaking into a short run with a speed that should have been surprising for all his armour, if it were not for the fact that this was the digital world, Grademon darted off into the streets, before making a bounding leap and was snatched into the air by another bolt of golden armour, racing off through the sky. Ranamon did not watch them go. Sprawled on the ground, she took a moment to wipe the tears from her eyes, generated by the intense pain Grademon had inflicted, before shakily rising to her feet and snatching her duffel bag from where it lay. She knew it was all for the sake of the plan, the completion of which was so vital…but to have to work with psychos like these, she thought, was almost enough to make her question the wisdom of her superiors. It was, however, enough to trigger her survival instincts, and she had no illusions that should Grademon find the battle he sought, that it would be a small one. And if there were to be two of them…

"Ah've got to get out of here." She seemed to speak to herself, as if to motivate her still shaking legs into a run back into the tide of the crowd in an effort to reach the fountain once more.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Freeloaders! I mean, faithful employees!" Gazimon cheered as the group approached the trail station.

"Gazimon? Why are you here? Outside the station, I mean." BB asked in honest confusion.

"Why, I had to make sure my favourite freeloa…I mean, employees were able to find their way to the right Trailmon." Gazimon explained in a sweet tone that was very unbecoming of the highly efficient conductor they all knew so well. One after another, the Nightmare Soldiers looked to their superior officer, imparting a silent prayer to be allowed to simply ride as passengers, rather than work the remainder of the journey. They understood his reasoning, but that did little to halt their desire for an easy ride.

"Why thank you Conductor Gazimon Sir." Vincent chirped with a genuine cheerfulness the others could not have summoned. He, at least, had genuinely liked his job aboard the Trailmon, exercising his cooking skills with a new array of ingredients.

"Conductor Gazimon Sir." Yasyamon broke in. "I would like to offer our services also, I feel the work would be an excellent lesson in humility for my student." He explained, indicating Kotemon as he spoke, the small kendoist's eyes widening within his helmet mask, but reverence for his teacher forcing down any verbal exclamation.

"The more the merrier!" Gazimon beamed, as he proceeded to lead them all through the station's service entrance, taking them straight to the trail yard, talking all the way. "Let's get you all into uniforms and to work! The cleaning crews have been all over my beauty since we arrived, but I find them to be most inefficient most of the time, the rest of the time their like filthy carrion beasts and trail in more muck than they take out! So before we leave today we'll being giving her a good going over and scrub!"

A unanimous groan rose up from the group, with the exception of the ever composed Yasyamon, while Gazimon continued to rattle off an ever growing list of chores they'd have to perform before any traveller could so much as glimpse his precious Trailmon.

"Furthermore!" Gazimon began to announce, before a roar of engine drowned him out.

The engine was very different from that of the Trailmon, possessing a higher pitch, and then from the sky, a golden bolt hurtled down, seeming to drag a gale behind it, forcing all present to brace themselves. Rocketing skyward, the golden bolt seemed to split apart, and that which dropped the ground spiralled for a moment in a flurry of gold and royal blue, before crashing to the ground.

"Grademon!" Vincent exclaimed, the Digimon immediately snapping into battle positions. Yasyamon and Kotemon pulling out their swords while Bulletmon pushed BB to the back of the group, training his arm cannon on the Ultimate Digimon, while Komodomon struggled to restrain himself, a mix of fear and excitement roared through his body and mind as he looked on at his opponent.

"Hmph.I've come to satisfy my pride." The golden warrior announced, rising to his full height, his apparently eyeless mask shining in the morning light. "To defeat he who defeated me, the rest of you refuse should get out of my way."

"The one who defeated him?" BB uttered halfway to himself (the meaning of the word 'refuse' completely going over his head). "Does he mean Trailmon?"

"Hmph. In battle, it is appropriate to introduce yourself properly. Having defeated me once before, I will allow you the honour of a formal introduction." The iconic sound of metal scraping against metal was heard as Grademon drew one of his swords from its sheath, and held it vertical before him, in a kind of salute. "I am Grademon! The Golden Flash! Servant of the Lord Pride! And you!" He roared, swinging the blade to be held straight, pointing right over Komodomon's head, straight at Vincent's heart.

"Wha…me?" Vincent took a small step back. Against a fully armoured and armed ultimate level Digimon, a mere human teenager didn't stand much chance.

"Hmph. Don not try and pretend any different." Grademon warned, keeping his blade pointed. "You made it clear enough that the set-up was your idea!" In his mind's eye, he could still see that grin the youth had worn, right before the Trailmon had come rushing along, shattering his legs.

'I don't think so.' The last words Grademon heard before Trailmon's roar had overpowered his senses, and its bulky form had sent him flying.

"Hmph. I have recovered my strength, and now I have come to recover my pride as a warrior. You will face me in battle!" Grademon bellowed.

"I…" Vincent stuttered. 'What can I do?' He thought to himself. 'There's no way in hell I can actually fight this guy…I couldn't even provide a distraction for the others to get away…but maybe I can bargain with him and…'

"Oy!" Komodomon's voice claimed Vincent's attention. "If you're wanting to fight my partner, you've got to go through me first!"

"Hmph. You are a waste. I crushed you once already." Grademon dismissed.

"Oh?" Konodomon's crocodile smile grew. "Then are you saying I can't go and win back my pride?"

"I don't care about your pride." Grademon sneered.

"Well I do!" Komodomon roared. "Let's go partner!"

"Hm." Vincent nodded, plucking his Digivice from his belt. Who was he? Right now, he was Cait again. Think like Cait, act like Cait, and give your all to support your partner. "Evolution!"

Red light poured into the Digivice, causing a bubble of it to appear around Komodomon. Reacting, Grademon rushed forward, Komodomon moving to meet him.

"Komodomon Digivolve to…"

With the 'clang' of meeting metal, the two Digimon collided, Grademon's sword against the chains that adorned his opponent's wrists as the two strained against one another.

"I'm going to give you the honour of a personal introduction." The red Digimon grinned. "I am Lieutenant Drakemon of the Nightmare Soldiers!"

"Hmph." Was Grademon's only verbal response.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"What in tarnation is wrong with me?" Ranamon pondered allowed as she moved with unnecessary stealth through the now panic filled Trail Station, as employees, passengers, and miscellaneous pieces of self motivated luggage and furniture made their way out in the traditional fashion of a stampeding hoard as an announcer, in a remarkably bored tone, spoke over the intercom, reminding everyone to exit the station in an orderly fashion, and to ignore the rampage of severe violence that was currently heading their way. For once though, Ranamon ignored the idiocy and selfishness, and focused instead on her own actions. "Why am ah doin'…ugh!" Spinning as a fully loaded baggage trolley slammed into her, pushed by a team of Gazimon, Ranamon toppled and fell to the ground, proceeding to drag her bag and crawl under a table. "Maybe ah better wait till things calm down a bit…" She uttered from her hiding place, before the walls of station seemed to shudder.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

Panting, Drakemon pulled himself to his feet, looking to the wreckage that lay where he had stood only a moment before. Piled in a heap, the Trailmon carriages had no option but to do so upon running out of track and impacting with the station wall.

The fight had been going well you could say. Drakemon wasn't dead yet, and neither was anyone else. Unfortunately, in the red dragon's current opinion, this included Grademon. The ultimate had been in definite control of the battle since the start, and the two had raged throughout the station, tearing up terrain and demolishing smaller buildings until arriving in the Trail yard. The bulky transport Digimon had wisely begun to pull out as the fight approached them, leaving their carriages behind. Something Grademon had been happy enough to use to his advantage.

"When this guy gets serious…" Drakemon grumbled as he rubbed his head. He wouldn't have thought that Grademon would have the raw force necessary to shunt the carriages around, but he supposed he was just letting the warrior's size fool him. Grademon was an ultimate level Digimon, and that was to be feared. Looking to his chained wrists, Drakemon couldn't help but shiver as he looked at the deep gouges that decorated one set of chains, and how the other now hung loose.

"Hmph! Give up!" Grademon bellowed as he suddenly burst out from among the lines of trains. The shining warrior had yet to draw his second sword, and the one he held was readied for a thrust as he raced towards Drakemon, only to be cut off. With speed born of years of training, Yasyamon raced along the carraiages, bounding from roof to roof and even darting along walls, before catapulting himself at Grademon. Blade met boken as Grademon managed to pivot in mid-air, his clawed feet scraping along the ground as they slammed down, skidding from the force of his leap, and the pressure Grademon was exerting down on him, even both his blades in use, he was struggling to match the golden Digimon's furious power. With a grunt, Grademon's free hand went to his second sword and drew it swiftly, the but of the hilt ramming into Yasyamon's gut and winding the pale warrior, causing him to stagger back. Knocking one Boken aside, Grademon's arm began to swing back up in order to slice at his opponent's abdomen, only to come up short as a chain lashed out and around his wrist, the pressure pulling on it forcing him to stop.

"Hold it!" Drakemon cried, tugging on the chain that had once been wrapped on _his_ wrist, but now bound Grademon. "I'm meant to be centre stage right…"

With barely a 'hmph', Grademon turned and grasped his second blade with his free-hand before pulling it out with such speed that the draw was an attack in itself.

"Grade Slash!" He roared, the blade shone for a moment and a blast of wind suddenly seemed to erupt from it and slam into Drakemon. While his muscles were hardy and strong, he was still built for flight, and his wings were pulled open and his low weight saw him blasted off of is feet, with a grunt, he stopped sharp in the air as his grip on the extended chain failed to falter, before he crashed down to the ground as the wind left. Staggering upright, Drakemon suddenly became aware of how close Grademon had moved, and only just managed to raise his arm in time to block the twin sword blows with his remaining chain binding, wincing as it finally gave way and chain links shot in all directions, some striking his own body. Rising sharply, Grademon's knee slammed into the red Digimon's chin, snapping it back as the golden Digimon twisted his blades around for a coup d'grace.

Only to falter as buckets, shovels, anything lying around the yard was propelled at him. Burling furiously, Yasyamon span his way towards Grademon, using his remaining boken to launch the miscellaneous items at his foe as he danced his way onward. While the barrage was doing no real damage, it was causing Grademon severe irritation and distraction. He hated that. Lashing out, he cleaved through and deflected several incoming items, making his own way towards Yasyamon.

"Gaio Ryu!" He began his next attack, shifting stance, he spin alerted slightly, before he seemed to coil mid-spin and propel himself into the air "Dai…ugh…"

With a small 'Hmph', Grademon had hurled one of his swords though the air, the sharpened blade easily piercing the chains that guarded the pale warrior's chest. His momentum countered by that of the sword, Yasyamon fell in a heap onto the ground, gasping and clutching at the sword.

"No…" Drakemon grumbled, pulling himself to a crouch. His head hurt so bad…

With the sheen of metal against metal, and a gasping grunt, Yasyamon felt the second blade drive itself in next to its brother, before the ground started to lift away.

"Hmph. You have vexed me." Grademon growled, a sword in each hand he pulled Yasyamon up until he was suspended high up in the air. "And for that, I'll remember your name for you."

"No!" Desperamon cried, hurtling along the train roofs. BB had a hard time getting the energy up for evolution, but he could still make it, his gun was primed and he was in the air, just one good shot and he could.

From the sky, the golden bolt returned, the heavy thrum of engines in motion filling the air as it tackled Desperamon, pulling him away from the battle and sending his shot wild.

"NOOOOOO!" He screamed as he raced away.

"Guh…huh…gah…" Yasyamon panted, barely able to breathe as he looked down at the other masked warrior.

"Good-bye." Grademon pulled the blades, tugging them outward.

Rounding the corner, Vincent felt an odd relief as he saw Drakemon struggling to his feet. They were still alive, it wasn't over…but what was he looking at…

No-one knew who screamed first.

"YASYAMON!"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

**Raven: ** You know that theme song from Portal, "Still Alive"? You should play that on continuous Loop every week when we don't update on time, just so you can remind yourself.

There's really no excuse, other than a giant writer's wall that we call "unfinished story". I'll be honest, after these Ultimate sections, our storyline is a little spotty, mostly because we're unsure of which way we can take it. There's quite a few ideas, and we keep coming up with new ones instead of trying to solidify our hold. We're still unsure of Cecil's role later on, so…yeah, please forgive us.

I also got Soul Calibur 4. Yoda sucks, Apprentice is okay, but it has a godly A.I. working it. Critical Finishes are a pain to try and pull, and character creation rules. So yeah, I've been a little preoccupied so I haven't been whipping Keyo into working.

**Keyo:** We are indeed, still alive.

What really sucks, is I thought the summer would be full of plentiful, on-time updates. Instead, it was full of a barrage of distractions and writer's boulders. Seriously, this bit was supposed to be easy, I was looking forward to it, but then I just ran into a lot of problems regarding the method and thoughts of Grademon…and other things…ugh…You may also notice that this chapter is a bit dodgier than others, this is because I have severe problems getting into Hotmail, so I wasn't able to send it to CrazyEight. (To whom, I apologise for being so out of touch lately.) And then wouldn't let me upload it either. URGH!!

Anyway, this chapter has a lot going on in it. But what I'm going to talk about is Digimon and clothes (if you have any plot questions, you'll as them so…)

Now, some Digimon wear clothing, others don't. Now, Ranamon clearly wears a bathing suit (I'm not sure if the thing on her head is her head, or a hat though.) while say, Agumon, is totally nude. Now, we are yet to know whether Digimon are actually capable of reproduction (the closest to family I've seen in Digimon is Cocomon and Terriermon. Although we know that they can form relationships, as seen with Jijimon and Babamon.) So would the clothing be a part of their body, or what?

It's really confusing.

Personally, I went for 'it can come off', at the very least because I read Love Hina and I had a cute frog girl and a hot-spring :p


	43. Chapter 43

Keyo: Frivolities

**Keyo:** Frivolities! We return from the darkness of oblivion to bring you this account of the raging battle! We own only what we create, notes follow the story, all else returns to oblivion!

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Some people, when describing a moment of tragedy, say that all the sound around them seemed to fade away. As Vincent watched Grademon's blades rip through Yasyamon in an outward scissor fashion, sound, for him, seemed to become more acute and distinct. The panicked noise, cries and shouts, which dully resounded from the station became a sort of pastel background upon a white wall, the sound of the engines seemed to fragment, while Yasyamon's choked breath became the new wind. BB and Kotemon were shouting something, but he couldn't make out the words, and the loudest sound of all was the small metallic ringing and clinking the pieces of chain made as they scattered from Yasyamon's body and onto the ground. This perception lasted only for a moment, before Vincent's full senses returned. BB and Kotemon were running out, angered, in a instant he had seized a hold of their collars and yanked the pair back.

"Idiots!" He near roared, hauling them around behind the nearest Trail Car, Gazimon following suit.

"Bastard!" Drakemon bellowed, dashing forward, his wings boosting his speed. "Impact Claw!"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Of Blood and Binary

Chapter 43: Of Souls and Swords! (Part 3)

He cannot stand evil; his burning soul will become a blade to protect those around him.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

The deep throaty roar of a heavy Motorbike sang out through the mountain range, its song echoing throughout, making it seem like there was a grand chorus, rather than a single vocalist. While the XV was a grand ship, its engines were relatively quiet, and the roar easily drowned out the creek of the spider legs and the hull as the battle-ship clambered through the troublesome terrain. The two Digimon on lookout duty twisted and turned in an effort to locate the source of the noise, peering into the various crags and dips that presented themselves as the battleship trundled on. Then, from a mountaintop, a dark shape exploded out to fly before the noon sun, all the noise becoming focused upon it, as it hurtled down toward XV, slamming down upon the deck the large motor screeched as the breaks were deployed and the rider turned the bike side on, turning it into a skid, leaving thick smoke and twin black stripes along the deck, before pulling t a halt at the grand doors which led to the ship's interior. The two watch-mon' blinked down at the spectacle, the rider shunted the kick stand down, balancing the large bike, smoke still peeling off the heated tires. The bike looked a mix of a Japanese racing bike and the Harley Davidson preferred by many a Hell's Angel. An organic whoosh', like an exhaling breath, accompanied the opening of the doors as they slid to the side revealing Yersinimon. At his back were a small cluster of robed figures, the brown cloth completely obscuring their forms as they hauled around a set of large travelling cases, all bowed in submission as they dutifully followed their master.

"Oh, chk." The masked Digimon paused as he came face to face with the new arrival. "You came back…we thought you had died, chk."

"Heh, spare me yer oh so heavy heart ache!" The bike rider grinned at the blatant lack of concern. "Yous could at least welcome me properly."

"Very well, chk." Yersinimon sighed, as if the words he'd have to speak were to be a great burden to him. "Welcome back, Sin Gluttony…"

"Lord Beelzemon."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ­-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Augh!"

Slamming into the roof of a carriage, Desperamon proceeded to bounce along its surface, before his angle finally sent him tumbling off to crash upon the ground. Pain shot through his system, but given that his cybernetics, he knew he was in more than operational condition. Quickly rolling to his feet, he swung up the weighty Star Revolver, balancing it against his shoulder as he spread his feet out, ready to open fire on whatever that gold bolt was…

No…

Not whatever it was…he knew exactly what it was. He couldn't forget the sound of that engine, his memory for sound comparison was 98 perfect after all. Closing his eyes, he forced out the rest of the noise that filled the air, seeking that distinctive roar, the rough bellow that would fill the air.

"Rapidmon…" He thought to himself. Until their first encounter with Grademon he had believed that they both been killed back at the Honeybeemon hive, by his calculations, Big Bertha should have caused a total collapse of the target's chest cavity resulting in deletion, but this encounter was more than enough evidence to prove him wrong.

There!

That was it, that brrrraaaaauuuurrr'. Whirling, he swung his massive gun into firing position, already anticipating the most likely actions his opponent would take.

"Miracle Missile!" The voice cried, obscuring the target with a wave of small missiles.

Same old trick.' Desperamon thought to himself as he swung up the massive revolver and pulled the smaller model from behind his back, already calculating the key points he'd have to strike to avoid his own deletion.

"Quick Draw! Star Revolver!" He cried, a series of snaps and bangs following on as he unleashed his shots at the missiles, causing their detonation, the subsequent and amazingly precise chain reaction destroying the others and creating a large bubble of smoke and flame in the air. When Rapidmon ripped through it, there was no sign of the gunman.

"Heh…fool. Did you forget that I don't need to see to find you?" Rapidmon jeered into the air, his large metal ears seeming to twitch as be began a sonar scan of the area, looking for the motion that would indicate Desperamon's presence.

It was a pity he didn't have time to wonder how he got up and behind him so fast.

Spinning in mid-air, the golden Rapidmon was confronted with the dark void of Star Revolver's barrel, before a bang sounded and a bright flash engulfed his eye, the shell slamming into his eye and sending him reeling. With a cry of rage, he unleashed missile after missile in a random pattern, the war-heads raining down upon the train-yard and creating an inferno.

"I WILL KILL YOU!!" Rapidmon screamed.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ­-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Drakemon had thrown Grademon through a set of carriages. To be quite frank, it was impressive, Grademon was no light-weight in all that armour, his speed was a sign of his great strength, but Vincent had no time for awe. He'd told the others to stay where they were, but Kotemon had followed him out anyway. Yasyamon was his master, and he'd seen the respect and awe the rookie had for the champion, he could understand. Besides, he was sure that even if it was just Yasyamon's torso, it was going to be pretty heavy.

"Yasyamon!" Vincent hissed, reaching the decimated warriors side, crouching low.

"Sensei…" Kotemon near sobbed.

Cloven in half, his chain wraps scattered, Yasyamon lay gasping and panting upon the ground, data drifted away into the air as his body slowly broke down, that it was taking this long was a testament to his strength, his vitality, as he clung to life. He knew he was dead, but he needed to do one last thing before he faded…before his time was up.

"Vincent…" The swordsman gave a choked gasp.

"Hold on!" Vincent snapped, licking his dried lips as he struggled to think of…anything! If a human were to be sliced in half they'd…they'd…he didn't know how long it would take for a human to die if sliced in two, but even then he wouldn't know what to do. But as a series of crashes came from one side of the trail-yard, and a fireball lit up the other, moving to somewhere sheltered seemed like a good idea. "Kotemon, grab that arm!" He pointed to the limb which lay limply at Yasyamon's side, no strength left to raise it. Once the diminutive kendoist grabbed a hold, the two proceeded to drag the masked warrior back to their hiding spot. Upon seeing the condition of Yasyamon, BB tried to let out a gasp, or call out their companion's name, but only managed a choked sound. Vincent was very glad that it was apparently impossible for Digimon to have organs hanging out, he didn't know how that sight would have affected BB, let alone himself.

"Hold on Yasyamon, we'll…we'll…" God! What could he say? What could they do? He'd been sliced in bloody half and now his arms were fading, his fingers had already evaporated and his hands hadn't lasted much longer, even his hair had begun to fragment into dusts of light.

"You will listen…" Yasyamon spoke with quiet command. The strain in his breathing was obvious, but controlled. He was a strong digimon, and his last words were to be important. "I wish to…" A moment, he controlled the cough, forced it down. "give some final advice." Vincent knew he was smiling under that mask, despite it all, he always got that feeling whenever Yasyamon had dished out some kind of lesson. "Vincent…I really wish we had met under terms where we could have been friends, rather than allies."

"Yeah…" Vincent gave a sad smile. "Me too."

"Don't lose sight of what's important to you…any of you." Yasyamon couldn't suppress the pain in his lungs any longer, and a rough cough was hacked out into the air. "It's strange…I can't rem-em-mer…why…we went to…war…" Had he said what was important? He couldn't remember…he was so tired…deletion…it would be nice…A tree…Yes…he wanted to be a tree…somewhere peaceful…no logging…

A big peaceful tree…

Vincent gave a small choking noise as the last of Yasyamon faded before him. For a moment, his mask clattered to the ground, before shattering.

BB and Kotemon were pretending they weren't close to crying, while Gazimon looked incredibly panicked. And Vincent? For Vincent, his Cait visage had collapsed under the weight of his fear and sadness. But as he felt these wash over him, he was very much aware of what they were for.

He was sad because a good man had died.

He was afraid because his friends were in danger.

Rising, took in a ragged breath as he tried to calm his nerves. His hands were shaking and his mouth tasted funny, like he was actually tasting his gums and teeth for the first time. Oh how he hated being afraid.

"Gazimon, take BB and Kotemon and find somewhere safe to hide," he commanded, authority appearing in his tone that Gazimon nodded.

"Come on you two," the grey Digimon prompted.

"But…" Kotemon began.

"Vincent…" BB tried.

"Listen!" Vincent snapped. "There's a lot going on right now, and I need to reduce the factors I'm worrying about. Right now, Desperamon and Drakemon are in trouble, I need you guys to go and find help."

"But what about you?" BB had to ask.

"Don't worry." Vincent did his best to give a Cait grin. "I've got a plan."

As Gazimon led the two away, and Vincent ran off into the heat of battle, he seriously wished that he did have a plan.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

'It hurts…oh gods it hurts.'

Collapsing down to the ground, Drakemon shuddered, collapsing as pain rocketed through his arm while he tried to prop himself up on his elbow, and dropped flat. There were still some mysteries to Digimon biology…a lot actually, but Drakemon was pretty sure at this point that they had something like a bone structure, and that his was almost entirely shattered.

But he couldn't stop, he had to stay in his evolved state, had to hold on…

"Hmph, you fought well, I was impressed." Grademon stalked onward, his metal coated feet clanking on the ground. "I will allow you to keep your pride and give you a warriors end."

Drakemon watched as the sword rose up, prepared to deliver an execution slash. And he just _couldn't…move…!_

Then he saw it…Vincent raced out from behind a carriage, metal pipe in hands, a wild cry upon his lips. If they situation had been any different, he would have made a snappy remark about how it was probably the lamest plan his partner had ever come up with. But all that shot through his head was how quickly Grademon would be able to cut through the soft and squishy human, the golden digimon already turning his attention to the source of the desperate battle cry. With a roar, Drakemon managed to push his body past its limits, and battered and broken he rushed forward, unleashing a feral roar that almost resembled Impact Claw', and was loud enough to catch Grademon attention just enough that the golden swordsman turned his head back towards the dragon, just in time to have the chain wrapped fist slam straight into his helm. A loud crack resonated through the air as Grademon, full of shock, was blasted from his feet, allowing Vincent to past. As Grademon flew through the air, Drakemon fell to the ground, shrinking back into his rookie form as Vincent dropped the pipe and caught the red digimon in his arms.

"Heh…Can't believe that worked…" Komodomon tried to grin as he sagged.

"Yeah, let's totally say that I had a plan," Vincent returned the effort. Dear god Komodomon looked terrible. Maybe this really was the end.

"Hmph! Inconceivable!"

"Looks like Goldilocks is back up…" Komodomon grumbled. He tried to stand on his own, and failed, Vincent catching him again and helping him upright.

"Guess we didn't put her to bed after all…" Vincent chuckled. Facing despair and oblivion was so much easier with Komodomon by his side.

"Hmph, for a Champion to have damaged my armour, you can truly die with pride." Grademon stepped out of the carriage Drakemon's blow had sent him through; cracks ran in an erratic spider-web upon one side of his helm, proof of Drakemon's attack. It actually made Vincent and Komodomon grin.

"Grademon!" Vincent barked. "We have no intention of taking part in this war!" He wanted this fight to stop, he wanted to keep everyone as safe as he could, no…as safe as they should be.

"Hmph. I don't care." Grademon twisted his neck, causing joints to crack as he loosened up. "This is about my pride. I won't let this battle stop until I have reclaimed it!"

He won't let it stop?' Vincent took a glance around at the damage to the Trail yard. They were fairly close to the station now, and he knew if it raged on much longer, the digimon inside could suffer. They were mostly rookies, and all civilians, not fighters like Drakemon.

Don't lose sight of what's important to you…' Yasyamon's words came to him.

Stop the fight, keep everyone safe,' he almost chanted. We have to stop him.'

A loud round of beeps' went off as red light erupted around Vincent, the power flowing into his digivice which shook and flashed.

"Komodomon…" He unbuckled it, he knew what was coming. He just prayed it was at least nearly as miraculous as the TV show depicted.

"Yeah…"

With a final shudder, the red digivice split open to reveal its circuitry, data flashed upon the screen as it filled with Vincent's bright energy.

"ULTIMATE EVOLUTION!"

"KOMODOMON DIGIVOLVE TO…"

From the light that enshrouded Komodomon, bright shining set of ethereal wings erupted briefly before wrapping once more around Komodomon's form, the light then blossoming outward to reveal a figure not too far removed from Drakemon's physical set up, but taller, straighter, and armoured.

Oh boy was he armoured.

It wasn't bright and shining, but strong grey steel. Breastplate and pauldrons, gauntlets and arm guards. Sheets of it were strapped to his shins by strong leather bands, and upon his head sat a fine helm. It was sleek, with faux fangs hanging down, long and sharp over his jaws. A long double edged sword was held in one hand, simple and strong, from point to pommel it went from the ground to under the dragon knight's chin. From his back hung a magnificent red cape fluttering in the wind his evolution had created, and boy did he look magnificent.

"CLAYDRAKEMON!"

**Claydrakemon**

**Level: Ultimate.**

**Type: Vaccine.**

**Attacks:** Braver, Valour Burst.

"Hmph, truly a freak, like that abomination of Yersinimon's," Grademon scowled, adopting a fresh combat stance.

ClayDrakemon responded by swinging his mighty sword up in a mimic of a fencing salute, wielding the weighty blade with amazing ease, as if he had been born with it in his hand, settling on his shoulders and reach out with a gauntleted hand, taunting his foe.

"Let's go!"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"St…stop…I can't…" BB tripped, falling to his knees and gasping for breath.

"Oy! We have to get out of here!" Gazimon hissed. The explosions in the air, and the sound of rending metal and screams unsettled the conductor, and he wanted to be somewhere safe soon. "Catch your breath quick!" His claws clacked together as he fidgeted, every moment BB took to recover felt like an eternity, and he was sure that the battles would suddenly engulf them, another explosion went off, closer than the others, and Gazimon jumped. "Kotemon! Are you sure you're leading us away from the fighting?" He snapped at the kendoist.

"Who said we were going away?" Kotemon asked, turning to look back at his companions from his previous occupation of spying around the corner.

"What!?" Gazimon barked. "But Vincent said to get away from here!"

"And Vincent went to help Drakemon!" Heaving himself up, BB was still breathing abnormally. "I don't care what he said, I have to help Desperamon too!"

"Yasyamon said we had to remember what is important to us," Kotemon growled, tightening his grip upon his shinai, he wouldn't fail his teacher.

"And Desperamon is important to me, and I have to help him," BB growled. He was so scared right now, but he just couldn't get that image of Vincent from his mind. Ready to run in and help his partner, how he'd pushed BB himself out of the way of danger back at the HoneyBeemon hive…he wanted to be brave and strong like that. For a moment, a green light pulsed over him and he felt slightly re-invigorated. "Let's keep going!"

"You are both crazy," Gazimon sighed. Reaching out, he pulled Kotemon back.

"Wha!" The young swordsman started.

"The way you are running around, you will get us lost and killed. Just, follow my lead…" Gazimon sighed, he knew every trail yard by heart.

"Thank you Gazimon!" BB beamed, much to the conductor's chagrin.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

What power…

Gold and red flashed as the blades met. This was no static duel as ClayDrakemon kept pushing his assault; the two armoured digimon barely seemed to touch the ground as they fought through the train yard, ClayDrakemon swinging his blade in great arcs, forcing Grademon to the defensive as he required both arms to support his parries.

Digging his heel into the ground, ClayDrakemon suddenly stopped his advance, his whole body twisting as he swung his arms back in preparation for a large double handed strike. His momentum carried him for a few moments, his heels scattering the gravel beneath him.

"BRAVER!" He roared, red light suddenly burst around the blade like a bolt of lightening, crackling briefly before ripping through the air as he swung.

"GRADE SLASH!" Grademon roared as he pushed himself forward, breaking his retreat. He would be damned if he lost to this freak! Golden energy pulsing around his weapons, he met the attack head-on, and the two lights collided, tearing up the ground and causing gouges to appear in the surrounding carriages, as if slashed by an unseen force. Both warriors grunted as they colliding powers eventually forced them back, similar cuts decorating their armours from the collision.

"Oh hell!" Vincent gasped, stumbling as he ran. Pain spiked all over his body, and it took him a few moments to become aware of what had happened. BB felt it whenever Panzermon was hurt, same's probably happening to us,' he figured, padding himself, he found no serious damage, and no bleeding. Whatever had hit ClayDrakemon had simply stung. Nodding to himself, he shook off the weird pain and began to run on again. Komodomon may have closed the level gap by becoming ClayDrakemon, but he didn't know how much further that gap ran, how much more experience Grademon could have. He had faith in ClayDrakemon, but faith wasn't a substitute for fact and strategic advantages, fortunately, Vincent was pretty good at thinking on his feet. "Found it!" He grinned, his hands slamming down on a large, metal canister.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"I will find you!" Rapidmon cried, unleashing a wave of missiles. He had been attempting to drive Desperamon out of hiding by threatening the whole yard, but as quickly as he'd emerge, the gun-man would vanish off among the cover, his shots unnervingly accurate as he took down the swarms of missiles. Reviewing his combat method thus far, Rapidmon deduced that Desperamon's success in defeating his barrages came down to a lack of actual firing pattern. He was really on Desperamon's defensive nature to be drawn out by the threat the missiles could pose, he hadn't been putting any thought into their direction.

How foolish, he hadn't been assessing the capabilities of his opponent correctly, simply because he was in the Champion stage. That Yasyamon had been able to defeat Black while only being a champion, and this Digimon had nearly managed to kill him, he shouldn't have felt that his upgrade from Green to Gold, and Desperamon's champion status, would make things easy for him. Time to take this more seriously.

The cybernetics installed in the armour coating his ears allowed him to create a rough image of the terrain based on sound alone, even in placed obscured from sight. And he could tell that the station was still full of panicking travellers. For a few moments, he hung in the air, absorbing all he could about the trail-yard layout. Desperamon was smart, using the limited fire-power he had to maximum advantage, keeping in amongst the trail-carriages in order to obscure sight and sonic, choosing narrow areas where Rapidmon couldn't fly…he needed to force Desperamon into the open with a missile wave he couldn't snipe in a single hit and run. Within his helm, he smirked, there, a second target that the Gunslinger couldn't help but defend…

"Miracle Missile!"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Rockets streaked through the air, and Desperamon took careful aim. His single, visible eye took in the streaks, he had to take them out fast before they thinned out too much, if that were to happen, he wouldn't be able to chain the explosions. Springing to his feet, he launched out of the trail carriage he was hiding in, unleashing his Star Revolver and Quick Draw attacks in rapid succession, a series of bangs' punctuating the air as the bullets soared upwards, resulting in a satisfying serious of explosions as the missiles took each other out. He was about to roll under another carriage and vanish off, but then he heard the eruption.

A second attack?'

It had been low to the ground, and much closer than the station. The shockwave had passed through the ground, and he could see the target in question, a carriage had been sent spinning into the air, Rapidmon would have had to have fired from a low position to achieve that effect…but why would…

For a terrible moment, time seemed to slow down as he caught sight of his partner, partially obscured by the smoke and flame of the detonated war-head. The boy was shocked, and afraid, and Desperamon barely registered Gazimon and Kotemon's presence, the fact most prominent in his mind was the carriage that was currently airborne and following a flight path that would drop it straight down on them. Without even thinking, he launched himself into motion, sprinting across the train yard intent only upon protecting his precious partner. He didn't hear Rapidmon's exclamations, or the scree' of the missiles as they were launched and began to race through the air towards him, he was purely focused upon BB.

But BB noticed. Through the flame and smoke he could see the missiles racing forward, and his partner throwing himself into harm's way, he had gone and placed Desperamon in greater danger than before. He couldn't curse himself though, his only thought was that he needed to protect his partner.

Rapidmon's faith in his imminent victory began to crumble as a great green light erupted before the missiles did.

"ULTIMATE EVOLUTION!"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"PANZERMON!"

The green tower of light vanished, swirling away in imitation of a cyclone to reveal the towering from the of the quadruped tank, the barrels of the guns rising up as Rapidmon was forced higher into the sky. Panzermon could easily demolish the empty trail-yard he was occupying, and the station was to his back, so Rapidmon would need at least space to manoeuvre to use as a defence.

"Ooooh," ClayDrakemon cooed, swinging his blade as he and Grademon circled one another. "I think things just got bad for you."

"Hmph…Hardly," Grademon returned, his blades remaining perfectly in pace, his stance unflinching as he matched ClayDrakemon's paces. "It does not intrude upon our fight, and thus, is irrelevant."

There were no more words as Grademon sprang forward, ClayDrakemon matching the action as the two slashed and thrust, parried and dodged, neatly stepping around one another as their blades met again and again, every so often a burst of gold and red would collide and tear up the ground as Braver and Grade Slash collided, until ClayDrakemon dug into the ground and propelled himself backward, breaking the engagement.

He did it again,' Grademon thought to himself, as he once again found himself across from his grey armoured opponent, pacing in a wide circle. Each time we fight, he always breaks away…' Both were panting slightly now, so Grademon could see nothing there, but then he noticed the small gash in his foe's armour. I did that just before he ran off this time…Of course! He can only keep up with me so long, but with that giant's toothpick he calls a sword, he has to take longer and longer to recover each time I knock his blade away. If I push the confrontation, I'll be able to dominate and take him down.' The eruption of gun and missile fire acted as a starters pistol, prompting Grademon to spring forward again, Grademon shifted his grip mid-step, so that he now held his blades parallel and pointing back along his body, pushing himself into a rapid pirouette as he closed in on his foe.

"Go-Rudo Ryuu, Go-Rudo Jiten!" He called, unleashing his marshal technique as he utlized the highest slash rate he possessed, only to come to a jarring stop as he found he was unable to force ClayDrakemon to move, the dragon knight had instead slammed his great blade into the ground and braced it with both hands, so when the eastern blades clashed with his western, they didn't budge one bit.

"I don't know what Go-Rudo Ryuu' is, your Jiten' isn't too different from Kotemon's Jiten Enbu', and I've been deconstructing every move he's shown me," ClayDrakemon smirked. "I'm not amateur when it comes to combat." With a roar, the dragon knight wrenched his blade from the ground, swinging it up against Grademon's and ripping the ground it had been buried in as it rose, knocking Grademon completely off balance. Utlizing his momentum, ClayDrakemon kept his blade in motion, swinging it fully around to come back down upon Grademon, red energy flaring off of it as the wielder cried out Braver!' Grademon may be able to recover his blades faster, but the length of ClayDrakemon's sword meant a lot, especially when extended by the Braver aura, the golden warrior had to practically throw himself backward to avoid being cleaved in two, and even then a screech rose up as a gash was cut in his armour.

As Grademon rolled back up onto his feet, ClayDrakemon grimaced as the golden warrior sprang forward again, utilizing more standard combat manoeuvres, pushing forward and keeping him from catching a break.

Crap! Looks like he's sussed me out," ClayDrakemon lamented, doing his best to keep up, but finding Grademon's blades getting progressively closer. I can't recover fast enough…'

Swinging down, his eyes widened as Grademon managed to slip under the blade, letting the weight fuelled momentum that had aided the last strike drive the blade down into the ground, leaving the red warrior exposed as the golden one thrust forward with both blades.

"Go-Rudo Oushi!" He cried out.

Instinct kept one hand upon the sword, but ClayDrakemon was able to snap one of his arms up and use the gauntlet he wore to deflect a blade, allowing it to score the metal but be pushed it wide of his body. The second blade was another matter.

"Yeeaaaarrrghhh!" The blade struck true, piercing armour and burying itself in the dragon's shoulder, the cry only just drowned out by the eruptions from the other battle. But Grademon still heard it, that second scream, from the carriage just behind his opponent and for a brief moment he glimpsed Vincent, the one who had stolen his pride, grasping his shoulder and falling to the ground.

"Hmph. So…you share each other's pain," Grademon chuckled. "Does that mean if I end one, I end both?" Before ClayDrakemon could give any kind of response, Grademon twisted the blade, causing him to scream out again, the great blade clattering to the ground as a spasm took over the dragon, and Grademon propelled himself past his opponent, grasping his remaining blade in both hands as he crashed through the door of the carriage, and dashed forward, ready to hack down the strange being…only to find him absent…

The carriage itself was largely stripped down. All the upholstery was absent, and several of the chairs had been removed, quite likely to allow it all to be renovated. This meant that the emergency hatch in the floor was much more exposed, and it didn't take a genius to work out that it had been Vincent's point of exit. The collection of large metal canisters, however were more of a puzzle.

"Now!"

The cry just caught Grademon's attention, and looking out the window he could see his target in the arms of his partner, the dragon knight was swiftly back stepping, a silver-light growing in his open jaws. Taking another glance at the canisters, things clicked for the Golden Flash.

There are certain tools required when stripping down trail carriages; hammers, screwdrivers, drills and what not. Many digimon in the business may have altered their claws and what not to suit the job, a living tool kit if you will. Welding and cutting torches, however, are a lot harder to replicate, and so they and their great gas canisters must be kept on hand at any yard. Those big metal canisters filled with highly flammable gas.

"Oh."

"Valour Burst!" ClayDrakemon roared, unleashing the silver blast of flame, sending it straight through the carriage window and into the metal canisters.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Ranamon wasn't sure if she was screaming or not, the roar of the fireball pretty much drowned out every sound for at least a good square kilometre, and the heat it unleashed warped any metal too close, and for the distance Ranamon was at, dried her skin out in moments.

Yet even as she took raspy breaths, trying to recover, she couldn't help but be amazed by the sight of ClayDrakemon.

Is that big fella' really Komo-Komo'?' She wondered, before recoiling in pain as her eyes were far to dry to remain open. Ah can't…' Her whole body burned and stung. She really wasn't meant to encounter dry heat, Shanty was as far out to the Deserts as she was able to venture…She couldn't move…

"We gotcha'…" A strong, bass voice seemed to boom, and suddenly things seemed a bit cooler…much cooler, smooth cool metal was pressed against her body as ClayDrakemon scooped her up, Vincent dropping down to the ground to allow for room. "What're you doing out here RanaRana?" Whether the question was direct or rhetoric wasn't clear, but Ranamon couldn't answer anyway.

"She's all dried out," Vincent sighed, one hand still clasped to his shoulder. He already knew he didn't bleed in the Digital World, but he'd seen data leak out of injured Digimon, and it was really, really hurting. "Doesn't seem to have soaked through, but she isn't in a good way." The young man winced as a series of explosions ripped through the air, pulling their attention to the sky.

"We should probably help with that," ClayDrakemon nodded.

"Yeah," Vincent returned. "You go. I'll get Ranamon somewhere safe and catch up."

There was no hesitation as ClayDrakemon passed the frog girl over to his partner, who was unable to carry her, so resorted to wrapping his good arm about her, and with a stiff nod (god his shoulder hurt) he began to head off to a series of carriages that were still standing.

"Be careful," he called.

"You just watch that shoulder," ClayDrakemon returned, touching at his copy of the wound, a thin hole apparent from where the blade had run through.

"Same to you."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Ow, ow, ow…OW!" With that final exclamation, Vincent dropped Ranamon down into a chair, as gently as he could. Frogs dried out surprisingly fast, and he didn't want to damage her skin.

It had taken less time that he had thought, but he had been able to locate a dining car. Like most of the carriages in this part of the yard, it was clearly in for refurbishment, but unlike some, it hadn't been fully stripped yet, a test of the taps, however, proved that the water tanks had been drained. And so, with fingers crossed, he trotted over to the fridge and pulled the door open, gratified in that the near perpetual hunger of Digimon had prompted the work crews to leave the fridge running and stocked. Water was also quite fortunately on the list of drinks they had chosen to keep (as Vincent was sure Ranamon wouldn't appreciate being cooled off with the closest equivalent to a larger.) Scooping up as many bottles as possible, the youth trotted across to the table by Ranamon, and proceeded to wince and refrain from screaming as he tried to lift his other arm.

"Okay…no move arm…" He grumbled, before engaging in a rather complex and fumbling effort open the bottles with his off hand. Once opened, he proceeded to pour the contents over Ranamon, who gave a dry, painful gasp of relief as her skin was soothed, and gratefully gulped down the water that was poured into her mouth. "Better?" He asked, when sufficient gulps indicated that her throat had moistened enough to allow her to speak.

"Thank y'all," she rasped, reaching out and splashing herself with a little more, before taking another drink, her eyes remaining partially closed.

"No problem." Vincent had returned to the kitchen, rooting around in the freezer until he was able, with an ah ha', to produce an ice pack. "Rescues are kinda part of our job, I suppose." Sinking into the opposite chair, he unclipped his cloak, prompting it fall from his shoulders with a painful shrug, before hissing as he pushed the pack against his aching shoulder. If his arm was this sore to move, a relative pain must be affecting ClayDrakemon, so anything he could do to soothe the pain would count for something.

"Y'all awake over there?"

Looking up at the sound of Ranamon's voice, Vincent was aware that he was blinking a lot more than he thought necessary, as if fighting off the effects of sleep.

"Y'all is looking kinda worn out."

"Crap!" He exclaimed. It hadn't been a one off payment to evolve Komodomon to the ultimate. Just as they shared pain, he must, the youth realised, be acting like a battery, it would explain why BB had been exhausted after Panzermon's last battle. I can still here explosions and gunfire, whoever Panzermon is fighting is still a threat, and I don't know how much longer BB can hold out…I've got to go and help.'

"Ranamon, will you be okay here on your own?"

"Sure!" She returned, a little caught off guard by the sudden question. Everyone has always left, after all…'

"I need to go and help Komodo…ClayDr…ugh, Komodomon. Please stay here, and stay safe…I promise I'll be back as soon as I can." Picking up his cloak, he made an impressively swift job of fumbling it back into place and resetting the clasp.

"You're actin' awfully concerned bout someone you don't even know." Ranamon's tone was dry in more ways than one.

"I'm a natural born worrier, it's why I keep doing stupid things like running into a fire fight." Vincent sighed, passing over the ice-pack, which Ranamon gratefully applied to her fore-head. Looking up at the youth, she could see his face was twisted up with more than just personal fear. Her mouth gaped for a moment, as if to ask something, but then closed. She didn't care, she told herself, enough bother had been caused by them already and their fate had already been decided. "I'm truly sorry we got you dragged into this mess, and if you want, Komodomon and I will explain as much as we can to you when this is over…But please, stay here."

Unable to muster a response, Ranamon watched as the strange young man leaped from the carriage, grunted, and dashed off as well as his shaky legs would take him towards the towering green Behemoth.

"Why did Ah come here?" Ranamon sighed to herself, drinking more water. "Ah ain't not curious cat like Yersinimon…If all bein's just want somethin' in life…what do they have, that Ah want?"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"BB!" Kotemon called, grabbing a hold of the boys shoulder's as he began to sink to the ground. The young boy's skin was getting paler and paler, and sweat was collecting on his brow, bruises rising upon his flesh.

"Immaokay…" The boy mumbled, looking up at his towering partner.

Panzermon's rate of fire had been starting to slow, and more and more shots were getting through. In fact, he had been forced to enter Panzer Kastel in order to defend his allies, missiles pounding against his body, his armour holding out as well as it could, but as BB's energy waned, more and more cracks began to appear.

"This does not look very good." Gazimon confessed, hands pressing his floppy ears to his head in an effort to drown out the explosions and bangs.

"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgghhhhhhhhhhh!!"

Clawed feet pounding upon the gravel, ClayDrakemon raced towards the site of battle, his blade clutched tightly in his off hand, but grinning as the pain in his right shoulder began to dull. Good ol' Vincent', he thought, knowing who was responsible. With a twirl, he set the blade now in both hands and raced up towards Panzermon's back, leaping up and bounding from armoured strut to armoured strut that where the green behemoth's legs, digging his claws into the joints in the armour as he swiftly raced up his ally and sprang from him, cape fanning out as dramatically as possible as he launched himself towards…well…whoever had been shooting missiles at his subordinates. As it was, Rapidmon seemed more surprised to see ClayDrakemon flying through the air, than ClayDrakemon was to see Rapidmon.

"Braver!" The dragon knight roared, swinging his aura charged blade at the golden flyer, who promptly returned with the roar of his own jets, launching himself up and out of reach.

"Fool!" He called. "You can't catch me so easily in the air!"

"Heh," ClayDrakemon smirked, twisting in mid air to face his new opponent, and then, with a small gesture, his cape became taunt, stretching out and gaining form, melding itself into a pair of broad red wings, which promptly flexed and pushed him skyward. "Panzermon!" He called, signalling as best he could to the tank Digimon. ClayDrakemon may be able to fly, but he didn't know if he could outpace rocket engines.

"Rapid Fire!" Rapidmon near screamed, stretching his arms out and fire his disgruntled faced war-heads straight at the air-borne dragon.

"Valour Burst!" ClayDrakemon released the silver flare.

"Big Bertha!" Panzermon hollered, unleashing a severely weakened version of the air cannon.

Flare and missiles met in a glorious red and silver fire ball, just as the force of the air cannon caught up to ClayDrakemon, propelling him faster through the air, the dragon knight bursting out from the smoke and flame, blade held ready, and speeds Rapidmon wasn't prepared for.

"Rapid…"

"BRAVER!" ClayDrakemon outpaced his opponent, cleaving clean through one arm and causing the readied missile within to detonate, blowing Rapidmon down and out of the sky as ClayDrakemon slowed and steadied himself in the air, entering a slow glide as he tracked Rapidmon's fall. A green glow caught his eye as Panzermon reverted back to Capmon, and suddenly a throbbing heart-beat thundered through ClayDrakemon, causing his body to tense and suddenly feel all wobbly. Crap…' He grimaced. Vincent's a lot tougher than BB, but even he's gonna run out of energy at some point…and with this wound, I guess that point is coming up pretty soon…'

Looking down upon the yard, he could see Vincent running along one side of a line of trail cars, while Rapidmon crashed and rolled along the other,denting his big wing-esque ears in the process (in a manner that ClayDrakemon hoped screwed up his sonar abilities.) Watching as they twitched, and how the thrusters came on to send him rushing along the line of carriages, the dragon knight got the feeling that they weren't as damaged as he had hoped. Of course, he could just be trying to escape…but that wouldn't fit with the never say die' attitude Grademon had displayed, and claimed to be true of all who served his Lord Pride'. So if he hadn't noticed Vincent, where was he…

He just then noticed he was heading in the opposite direction of Vincent, back up towards the smoking crater they had made in their battle with Grademon, back up to where Vincent must have left Ranamon to hide…

Crap!"'

"VINCENT!" ClayDrakemon cried out, praying that his partner could give him strength for at least a few minutes longer as he compressed his wings and began to swoop down, trying to accelerate enough to gain on the golden flyer, hoping his cry had alerted Vincent to what was going on. Rana-Rana…'

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Rapidmon's sensors were down. He couldn't pick up an accurate sensor reading anymore, and the explosion of his missile was still ringing in his rather impressive ears, even their sound dampeners couldn't have absorbed the full brunt of that vicious sound wave, even if they had been fully prepared for it. But his last scan of the area still existed in his memory, and he was calling on it now…

One shape had been mobile…that thing Grademon had been wanting to fight (what had happened to his fellow warrior he really didn't care at this point), no telling where he had moved now, and if Grademon were hiding, he wouldn't appreciate his revenge being stolen…

That colossal brute Panzermon was behind him, protecting the others, whether or not his attacks had been slowing down Rapidmon didn't want to risk a confrontation with both ultimate levels at once.

There…dead ahead…it had been sitting still…that little frog Digimon who had taken them to the inn…he was terrible with names, but he was very good at remembering a sonar image. She had, if he remembered right, been spying on the group, and they had been completely unaware of her true nature…

She'd make a nice hostage.

Firing up his engines, he didn't risk flying, not with his ears crippled like this (the last thing he wanted was to go up, then nose dive) and began a high-speed dash down the lines of carriages, heading straight for the one that contained the amphibian digimon, when a carriage got in his way, he simple tore through with a quick missile burst, he couldn't afford to be slow now that he couldn't watch his back.

"What in tarnation!?" Ranamon exclaimed as an explosion (far too close for her liking) rattled the emptied bottles water right off the table. Stalking over to the window, she watched with wide eyes as the carriage that lay across from hers suddenly erupted, the remaining halves being tossed aside as a golden figure burst from the flames, arm pulled back as he raced towards Ranamon's hiding spot, she barely had time to brace and gasp before the arm rammed straight through the carriage wall and slammed down upon her, the inarticulate metal clasps attached to the rim seized upon her in a pincer like vice, squeezing flesh and bone to the point where she couldn't tell if she was wanting to gasp for air, or cry out in pain, quite possibly she was attempting to do both at once.

Claws digging into the gravel as he landed, ClayDrakemon scowled and growled at the sight of Rapidmon holding Ranamon before him. From the way her back was arching, there was probably a rapid fire missile at her back, and she was very clearly not enjoying the experience.

"Don't you dare," the knight snarled.

"Not one more step dragon," Rapidmon hissed, letting the missile extend a little further, prompting Ranamon to squeak and try and instinctively twist further away from it.

ClayDrakemon didn't move, not simply because of the threat but because his limbs were starting to feel really heavy. We're reaching our limit!' He realized, amazed that Vincent had been able to hold together this long in the first place. We might have to try and talk our way out of this one.'

He wasn't the only one feeling heavy. Trudging up through the gravel, Vincent felt like he was running through sand. Sweat was beginning to lash off of him, and in reflection, he was almost glad for the sight of Rapidmon standing with Ranamon as hostage, it pissed him off enough to shunt aside his exhaustion for a few moments and stand straight to glare at their opponent.

"Here's what's going to happen," Rapidmon sounded elated, almost to the point of being manic. "You're going to die. Because I'm going to kill you, because I know you haven't got the guts to go through her to kill me." He gave Ranamon a much unappreciated shake. To the frog girl's credit, she managed to suppress most of her fear under sheer indignation. "Grademon may have been a miserable failure, but I will regain my pride and…"

Whatever came after and' was never heard, unless uhhrk' truly was the intended message. A long, black burnt blade burst through Rapidmon's throat, the sudden shock causing him to drop Ranamon, who wasted no time in crossing the gap between her and ClayDrakemon. Right now, she wasn't thinking about which side she was meant to be on, she just cared about being with people who weren't going to immediately try and kill her.

"Hmph! Disgraceful!" Grademon's voice rang out as Rapidmon's became a series of incomprehensible gurgles. "To try and take victory by hiding behind a shield like that…you have become a disgrace to Lord Pride! Did you trade in your own pride and honour in order to satisfy a pathetic blood-lust?"

Panicking, it took Rapidmon a number of moments to work out exactly what was going on, and to remember that he had a big missile ready to fire from his remaining arm. Unfortunately for the gun bunny Grademon didn't allow him the chance to try and save his armoured hide, as he charged up his blade with the power of Grade Slash and forced it downward, cleaving through metal and flesh, creating a strangled gurgling scream of pain, the force of which was the only thing keeping Rapidmon on his feet, right up until Grademon twisted the blade around, and sliced back up, cutting Rapidmon's head in two. The gurgling screaming came to a sudden halt, as the halves fell away, data particles rapidly breaking away from the body and fading away into the air.

"Hmph." Grademon showed no concern over the execution he had just performed. "I leave your data to return to the air, may your next life leave you less foolish. Now…" He pointed the blade towards ClayDrakemon. "Where were we?"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Ranamon's heart was pounding. None of her recon missions had ever gone this wrong before, she was a tracker, not a fighter, and most defiantly not a hostage! If it wasn't one of her main skills, she'd be ashamed of the fact that she was currently trying to hide behind ClayDrakemon's cape, praying that this would all soon be over. This is the problem with the world.' She thought to herself. People just no carin' who they hurt…I should nevah have come here…'

"Don't worry Rana-Rana," ClayDrakemon spoke his best whisper. "I won't let them near you again. Me and Vincent will sort this, you'll see."

Despite how exhausted the two beings in question looked, a small part of Ranamon couldn't help but believe the words, especially when the smaller being, Vincent, spoke out in an impressively loud voice.

"Please stop Grademon!" He cried. "You're in no shape to continue this battle…there's been enough destruction already."

It was true. Grademon looked like…well…like he'd been at the centre of a very, very, large explosion. His armoured was burnt and cracked, and several pieces were missing or warped. One arm hung limp and one leg was clearly damaged, as it shook from the weight placed upon it.

"Hmph…I live for my pride, and you took that from me." He swung his blade to point now at Vincent. "For me, this battle will have one of two ends, victory or death. I told you, I won't let this battle stop until I have been satisfied!" Changing into an attack stance, Grademon began to channel golden energy into his remaining blade, which almost seemed to vibrate under the strain.

"Grademon! Please stop!" Vincent called, almost desperate. He had decided long ago that if lives needed to be taken, he would be the one to do it…but that didn't mean he had a desire to do it. Even if Grademon had killed Yasyamon, he didn't want to enter into a series of revenge killings.

"Vincent," ClayDrakemon placed a large hand upon his partner's shoulder. "He'll only let this end one of two ways…he'd welcome death over disgrace…"

"I…I know…" Vincent sighed.

"He won't stop." ClayDrakemon had turned away now, standing before his partner and friend, adopting his own attack stance.

"Yeah." Vincent clasped his hands into tight fists.

"So I'll end it here." Red energy began to thrum along and around ClayDrakemon's long blade.

He won't stop.' Vincent thought, remembering the sight of Ranamon trapped in Rapidmon's grip. He'll keep coming until he gets the end he wants.' All the Digimon who could have been hurt if they hadn't managed to contain the fight, Yasyamon… I won't let him…' Eyes fixed with resolve, Vincent dug deep, calling up every energy, every emotion, every ounce of strength he could find, love and hate all together. His digivice thrummed as it pulled in the energy and the red glow around ClayDrakemon's sword grew stronger as the two digimon suddenly launched themselves at one another.

"GRADE SLASH!"

"BRAVER!"

And then everything went black.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

…

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

…

"Ugh…"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

…

"Ugh…"

…

"Uhh…"

"I think he's waking up..."

…

"No…wait, yes…n…"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

This time, this time he managed to keep his eyes open. Had there been other times? He couldn't remember…his head hurt and he was hungry and…

Vincent screamed as he tried to sit up, leaning upon his damaged shoulder and setting off severe reaction in his nervous system which basically told his brain, in no uncertain terms, no, no, no no, NO!' Collapsing back down, he took a few moments to regain his breath and composure and take stock of his surroundings.

He was in a cabin, one of the trail carriage ones. It was very similar, in fact, to the one he had slept in before on the way to shanty. He was lying on the lower bunk and had a blanket pulled over him. His shirt and cloak were missing, and bandages were wrapped around his torso, pinning something soothing and warm to his damaged shoulder. Sniffing the air, he realised he smelt a little funny…not unwashed, just not washed properly…and there was the scent of cold tea in the air. There was the rhythmic chugga chugga' of the Trailmon's movement as the cabin rose and fall with each motion…and there were feet thundering in his direction…why?

Oh yeah, he'd screamed.

"Vincent!?" BB cried as he barged in through the door, letting it slam against the wall in a manner that made the injured teen cringe.

"I'm fine, I'm fine…" Vincent waved with his non-damaged arm.

"Told ya' he'd be okay," a smaller voice, which was making an impressive effort to sound more robust, chimed in from a location lower to the floor. The source in question made an effort to leap up onto the bed, but fell short. "Um…Little help?"

Blinking, Vincent reached down with his good arm, and felt something latch on, and proceeded to pull up a red blob with a stubby tail and legs, with little arms waggling near ineffectively in front. Big eyes stared up at him with a wide mouth that, like most in-training digimon, seemed to consume most of the body.

"Komodomon?" Vincent couldn't help but ask, suppressing a laugh.

"Hey! The ladies think that Pipmon is cute…but it's really making doing any work or training hard…so could you hurry up out of bed and evolve me already?"

Grinning, Vincent gave his partner a pat on the head (or as close as could be guessed) and received a half-hearted glare in return.

"How long was I out?" Vincent asked in a somewhat solemn fashion. He was awake now, and had to catch up on what he missed.

"Three days," BB confessed with an awkward shuffle. "Gazimon said it was probably your body trying to deal with the wound and the energy drain."

"Yeah you dolt!" Pipmon squawked. "You went and sapped yourself near dry towards the end! You're just lucky Gazimon got us onto Trailmon and got you all bandaged up and med-packed!"

"Sorry." Vincent gave a hazy smile, he really couldn't remember much about how the battle ended, just ClayDrakemon glowing bright red. As the memory settled in, his eyes narrowed. "How did it end?"

A stiff air settled upon the two visitors for a moment.

"BB, could you leave the room for a moment please?" Pipmon asked, his tone leaving little room for argument, no matter how soft. BB made an effort, but it died on his lips, and he sagged out, closing the door behind him.

We won," Pipmon sighed eventually. "But…"

"But?" Vincent asked, worry etching his face. He hadn't seen Bulletmon (Or Capmon, whichever form he was in) or Gazimon…were they even on the same Trailmon? Had something happened to the people in the terminal?

"Grademon…he said something weird before he…died…" Pipmon cast his eyes to the side. He knew what effect this information would have on his partner, and had been struggling with his conscience to decide whether or not to say it. But in the end, he knew they both stood for a certain right, and even if it could fuel Vincent into paranoia, he had to know. "He said that he couldn't remember…why he went to war…"

It took a few moments for this to sink in for Vincent, his head still sore from sleep and pain and hunger, but it did click in the end, and memories of Yasyamon dying in his arms, memories that would never leave him for as long as he lived, played out before his eyes again.

"Just like Yasyamon." Fingers raised to meet his lips, his mind went into full drive, hampered by the need for sustenance, but churning none-the-less.

"I didn't think anything of it, until Kotemon told me about Yasyamon." Pipmon sighed. "Do you think there's anything in it?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Vincent swung his legs over the side of the bed and stretched. "Probably not."

"But you're going to worry anyway…Hey! Are you sure you should be up?" Pipmon squeaked.

"Yes, I can't sit still." Locating the cup of cold tea. "Can I have this?" A nod was given, (well, more of a bob) and Vincent quickly chugged it down, relishing in having something to fill his stomach. "I need to start doing things, and thinking." His shirt was next, and with some effort, he managed to pull it on, grinning as he found a work vest and tie, now in his size. Thank you Gazimon.' "For now, we'll do nothing about what Grademon said. I want you to fill me in on what happened after the fight, and then we'll work out what we're going to do."

"You think there's something going on, don't you?"

Placing a hand on the door handle, Vincent paused.

"I don't know. Not yet. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'll feel a lot easier once we find Eight." Tugging the door open, he stepped out into the corridor and wasn't too surprised to find BB lurking in the hall. The boy was clad in the same outfit he had worn last time they had worked upon the Trailmon.

"Vincent!" The boy near jumped. "I just wanted to say…well…thanks for saving us again, and well…"

He's nervous,' Vincent sighed internally. He just had his closest brush with death, and watched a comrade die.'

"You did good," Vincent interrupted. "I'm not sure what you did yet, but given I haven't been told that a lot of people died, you must have done good." BB wasn't sure if he was being teased or praised. "I'm guessing you didn't do as I said though." Okay, that was being teased. "But you did good."

"Thanks." The boy shuffled. "I better, uh, get back to the toilets…" A shudder passed through him."

"No, you're with me," Vincent nodded firmly, before placing a hand on the boy's shoulder and steering him towards the kitchen.

"But…"

"No buts!" Vincent wagged a finger in the air. "My right arm won't work right, so you're helping me until it does. Besides, it's about time I taught you how to cook."

It was a distraction, and Vincent wouldn't be surprised if BB at least partially realised that, but neither really wanted to dwell on how close to death they had been, or how scary and confusing the world around them was becoming. Vincent would teach BB to cook, and that was that.

I'll make the next few days as peaceful as possible…I have a lot of thinking to do at night…'

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

**Raven: **I'm not going to say too much about this chapter. Keyo has not been on hiatus, he has been trying very hard to get it done, hitting himself over the head when he didn't like something, remaking it, remaking it again, and finally bringing out this piece of work. The typical plot is in there, and I have a major announcement to make that forces me to not talk about said plot.

I meant to mention this back in Chapter 42 (Y'know, the Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything?), and forgot. So, our Ozlykiomon name inspiration contest is over, and we actually have a winner. Not because the person answered correctly, but because their answer made more sense than our answer. So, Congratulations to Dragonchad, for his Frank Oz reference!

To everyone who wondered what the original, now neglected, inspiration was, it was Ozzy Osbourne, for his song "Bark at the Moon". Insert guitar solo here.

43 is finally done, and 44 shouldn't take so long because it goes back to Eight Ball's wild shenanigans! We enjoy writing for 8B more than anyone, because he's a mechanized quoting madman!

**Keyo: **Okay, so first off, I explain the long wait (I figure you all deserve at least that.)

A few things happened. I looked over the original plan for the battle (this being the one I repeatedly said was all planned out) and realised it didn't fulfil various character points and theologies. Grademon and Rapidmon are pretty awesome antagonists, and I wanted to be sure I played them out properly. As Raven said, I wanted to ensure this chapter was done _right._

The battle itself became increasingly harder to write (as battles so often do) with the need to keep everyone's power in balance, events gripping and intelligent, and make the whole thing generally awesome.

Then various types of disaster hit.

At about the half-way point of writing, (well, what was the half way point until this spiralled into being OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAANNND!) my precious Lappy got infected and needed some serious overhaul work by my nearest computer guru. So I backed up all her data and sent her away for a tune up. I eventually got her back and set about restoring the missing programs and consoling her over the loss of her memory. Interspaced with this were trips to England to visit my girlfriend, family holidays, work, and my return to University.

Also, in regards to the contest. When we received DragonChad's answer, he gave a very nice explanation connecting it all to the Jim Henson film 'The Dark Crystal' (which I love) and how OzLykiomon was all crystalline, and vibrations etc etc. Throw in that Lupmon herself would make an excellent muppet, and that Frank Oz was oneo f the geniuses involved in the process of puppet making and voice acting, and my immediate response was to tell Rave that his 'Ozzy Osborn' no longer impressed me.

For those who care, I will be making my annual trip to the London Expo this weekend, and should hopefully get the next chapter written within something resembling a reasonable time frame. If any of you are attending, try and find me…Mwhahahaha.


	44. Chapter 44

Major apologies for the long, long wait. But here it is, something resembling an update :P

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

As the stars shone above, the lights of the tree top city Dryad seemed to twinkle in response. The forest, which grew in a great spiralling cluster, was filled with tree houses and connecting bridges. Hand rails and barriers prevented the citizen and visitor alike from falling, and orbs filled with strange fluorescent sap decorated the branches, releasing the pale blue light that kept the paths lit, and smiled back up at the stars. Leaving his jacket in the hotel room, Juan ascended the stairs to join Elaine and Guilmon up upon the balcony.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" He grinned, his pearly whites managing to reflect the blue sheen of the sap lamps.

"But it's all so, so…" Guilmon's word's failed him as his large jaws drew wide in an impressive yawn.

"A brilliant mind you may be, but you're still quite young at heart, and you had a long day." The mod gently patted the red dino on the head, flattening his bat winged ears as he did so, the virus type digimon gently nuzzling in response, an act of instinct that his tired mind couldn't resist.

"Very well…" He sighed, giving a small stretch and padding off down the wooden steps, his tail swaying behind him in a lazy rhythm, gently scraping each step as it swayed.

Joining his beloved at the rail, Juan rested his elbows upon it's well worn surface and smiled back at the hut which comprised the moderately priced 'Longview Inn.'

"The others went to sleep ages ago." He grinned, thinking of the digimon and humans curled up inside. They had only found three missing players all of them young children, but it was a good start. They had been so distressed at first but were now sleeping as calm as if they were home in their own beds.

"He kept asking questions." Elaine responded, coming to stand by her beau. Gently, she pressed her head against his shoulder, prompting him to turn towards her and wrap his arms about her lithe form. The peaceful atmosphere of Dryad had been enough to prompt even the renowned Iron Maiden to shed her coat and open up a whole two buttons on her shirt (Juan had sliced through four.)

"Guilmon? That boy just never stops." Juan chuckled, resting his chin on Elaine's head, and giving her a small squeeze, enjoying how her body became immediately warm in embarrassment. Elaine was very poor at handling public displays of affection, and even here on a secluded balcony, she couldn't help her reaction.

"Hmmm…" Elaine nuzzled closer, an instinct with roots far deeper and more meaningful than those of Guilmon, even though she was embarrassed, she couldn't help her desire to be closer to her beloved.

"You should see them all curled up in there, they're adorable. Momo's got such a hold on Veemon…"

"You talk about them as if they were your kids." Elaine kept her face tranquil, but her voice was tinted with warm humour.

"Our kids." Juan beamed back, kissing her blond hair. "I couldn't dream of having kids without you."

A bubble of warmth popped within Elaine, releasing a wave of knee weakening goodness through her body as Juan once again made her feel all mushy. Elaine had always lived for her work, it was practical, predictable, and productive, yet Juan had been undermining that ever since he had waltzed into her life. If she were to think on it, 'waltz' probably wasn't the best way to describe a well worn taxi cab with broken central heating on a rain slick road in Toronto, but it fit the charming White Knight to a T. "Hmmm…" She nuzzled in closer, trying to bury her face.

"This place really deserves its name." Juan smiled, looking out across the canopy of trees. The Longview Inn was situated in the perfect spot to look out not only over the forest, but straight out into the horizon, the sun had long since set and the three moons hung in the air, adding their pale light to the scene as a gentle breeze rocked the smaller branches and leaves.

"It makes me feel like I'm flying." Elaine grumbled, full of scorn. "But that student of yours might have climbed something he shouldn't so I had to keep an eye on him."

'So that's why she's so willing to be hugged'. Juan smiled down at his beau, kissing her head again in thanks for caring for his partner, before tilting her chin up to kiss her lips, providing the security she needed to deal with the swaying view.

"I almost wish we didn't have to leave." Juan savoured the view once more. "It's so peaceful here…"

"I am not living in a tree house." Was Elaine's response. "But maybe somewhere by the sea…"

Kissing her once more, Juan led Elaine down the stairs, keeping an arm wrapped around his beloved at all times, looking forward to a good night's sleep within the tranquillity of the trees.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

**Of Blood and Binary**

**Chapter 44:** Tenacious Digimon!

From high above the mucky muck comes the Master Exploder Lee.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Sleep-easy-earplugs my sexy-pasty-geeky-ass!" Eight made and effort to wedge the small rubber lumps deeper into his ears, before abandoning this practice in favour of clasping a pair of pillows against his head as make-shift ear-muffs only to grimace as he found they provided no greater support in drowning out the excruciating, ear drum rattling, soul churning, keeping you from sleeping deathly wail which constituted Etemon's singing and which currently resounded through the entirety of the tour bus as the singer gave a private performance to his loyal crew who were engaged in the process of partying hard.

At four in the _mother-loving-morning!!!_

Now, Eight was a night-owl. Hell, he was no stranger to making a solid run of staying up three days on the row with a six pack of Unrelenting and a small crate of Pocky as loyal companions. But those tended to be days spent sitting idle in front of a computer making his way through hours of downloaded TV footage and finding new ways to humiliate gamers with displays of his amazing brilliance that tended to culminate in a display of his personally created tea-bagging emote. Working as a roadie was entirely different to this and tended to see him engaging in a lot more physical labour than he was used to. That it saw him engaging in physical labour at all was actually pretty astounding and his duties ranged from laying out chairs, to constructing stages to hauling the great big clunky speakers about so in short he was left exhausted and wanted to do little more than sleep once he returned to the tour bus too worn out to party. But the noise the others made was such that even his exhaustion could not allow him to drift into sleep peacefully no matter how well he fortified the small cubby hole he had built for himself in one corner.

"I give up Shademon…" The hacker groaned, dropping the cheap pillow.

"You're going to let me kill them all?" The shadow Digimon hissed, his luminescent eyes appearing from within the shadows of the cubby hole, despite embedding his physical self in the shadows of the wall he was no more sound-proofed than Eight was, and his volatile personality meant he was even less appreciative of the noise made by the musical monkey's crew than his partner.

"Sadly I still haven't fathomed how to drive this contraption and in spite of how frustrating they all are, it would be somewhat of an infraction against the rules, codes and general moral position laid down by the Nightmare Organization to slaughter innocents and we are, however unfortunately, still contractually bound to their way of doing things."

"So to what were you referring to, oh most verbose partner of mine?" The yellow orbs rolled in their familiarly sarcastic fashion.

"I want you to knock me out." Eight groaned. "I really just want to be unconscious, unaware and…" The sentence went unfinished as Shademon happily obliged to the request, a swift blow delivering the mental state the legendary hacker so desired.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Yo! Nice shiner there Eightmon!" Nanimon guffawed, slapping Eight upon his previously mentioned 'sexy-pasty-geeky-ass', being too short to reach up to his back.

"Mugreeee…" The irate faux Digimon grumbled, stumbling to the fold out metal tables upon which the highly greasy breakfast was being served before collapsing onto one of the available stools and letting his face fall flat onto the cool metal surface, the hot sun already turning it warm.

"Gotcha Chief!" Nanimon unleashed another bout of guffaws before passing over the porcelain mug filled with dark, cheap, nasty, sweet life giving caffeine filled coffee, which was accepted with a gargled 'mrag' which was taken to mean 'thanks' before the dishevelled and mildly physically injured human began to gulp down the surprisingly thick black liquid (no-one in this group appeared to be able to make a decent cup of the bitter ambrosia affectionately known to many as 'Joe' Eight had lamented to Shademon upon the initial discovery.)

"Tell me Nanimon, why are we currently parked within the physical manifestation of the desolate void that is Sarah Palin's mind?" Eight queried gesturing in a display of rather limp flamboyance (his body and mind still not fully revitalised by the gritty coffee) to the scrubland that their effective camp was currently being set up in.

"The seven hells is a 'Sarah Palin' foo'?" Nanimon asked, bushy eye-brow rising over his thick shades.

"My effort at political commentary which by now is most certainly outdated." Eight lamented with another display of lack-lustre gesticulation. "Just please tell me why we are apparently making no head-way toward my goal of reaching civilization and being able to obtain clothing and material goods which does not in some way further propagate Etemon's already over inflated image of himself." Eight gestured to the rather disgusting tee-shirt which displayed a cheery image of Etemon 'rockin' out' as it were, silver beads embedded for a 'snazzier look' the monkey himself had explained. If not for his dislike of being naked in non-alluring company and his general fear of the too hot sun which tended to burn sensitive geeky flesh like his, he would have purchased a tee-shirt like this for something more like a wild and crazy experiment involving a lot of accelerant and fire. And maybe a catapult…but this is a digression. "I was under the distinct impression that Etemon's grand tour of Highway Nil was finished and that we were going to Tsuyu…Tsu..." The hacker stumbled on the city name.

"Tsuyunoinochi?" Nanimon supplied, the word sounding strange, but accurate, in his rough voice.

"Yeah, that's the one…Marsupalami." Eight nodded, grimacing as he finished off the coffee, grimacing now that he was awake enough to actually taste the muddy concoction. "And I swear that this filth is being made in the traditional fashion of World War I Baldrick!" He glared at the mug.

"A what?" Nanimon entered the familiar state of being bewildered by most every second word that exited 'Eightmon's' mouth.

"Ugh…just another classic reference to something a philistine like you could never recognise or appreciate." Eight rose sighed. "Lets just say it's for more reasons than personal taste that I'm avoiding having any milk in this. Anyway, you were answering my question."

"Well, ya see." Nanimon began, accustomed now to the best method to ride the turbulent flow conversation with this man tended to take. "We were headin' straight on ter that Tsuyunoinochi…"

'How can this man fail to pronounce 'the' but is perfectly capable of pronouncing that babble of vowels?' Eight took a split second to ponder.

"But we went an' got a call frem an ol' rival of his, an' now e's gone an' accepted this 'rock off' challenge." The stage hand explained with rather blocky gesticulation that pretty much amounted to moving parallel placed hands from side to side as if he were moving a small box…from side to side.

"So now we're doing an extra gig…" Eight groaned. "I tolerated the last one because it was for a bunch of orphans with really cute faces, though how exactly one gets Digimon orphans shall remain a mystery to me until I am able to more fully research the reproductive and social aspects of civilised Digimon, but a rock off? That is, as a valley girl would say, _so not cool!_" He finished with improvised high, squeaky air headed voice.

"Whatcha on about man? A rock off is awesome!" Nanimon protested.

"Not when one of the challengers is Etemon, the King of gargling razorblades…and if the opponent is his rival, I'm assuming he's taking on the Sultan of…of…Geh, it's too early for me to think up chain insults." Rising, Eight took his mug with him and dropped it into the basin reserved for all dirty cutlery and began to head towards the bus' collection of sound equipment. "I'll get to work setting these up and…oh wait, I've got one now, the Sultan of rusty bayonets upon a dusty chalkboard!" The quip was met with silence. "What? Too much?"

"I didn' really get it…" Nanimon confessed with a shrug.

"In any case, I assure you that I'd much rather have dangerously front row seats for 'Dueling Farts, the wet and wild version' than listen to this."

Reaching into the collection of machines, props, boards and tools Eight pulled up a pair of tool-kits, one filled with the collection of tools and wires he'd built up since joining the bus crew and the other was filled with a variety of sweets, chocolates, candies and bon bons and every other name you'd wish to give to the cheap confectionaries of varying colours and flavours, a hoard that Eight re-stocked whenever possible, the sugary infusions it offered being one of the things which helped him remain sane within this personally purgatory of his.

"If Boss-Monkey comes looking for me, I'll be fixing the speakers…again…"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

The speakers utilized by Etemon's company were…well, first it must be established that they are not well treated. While the band members will shield their instruments as if they were more precious than their own lives (and Eight's need for sleep, forcing him to build his cubby hole around the shrine erected for the drums) the speakers were treated far more like the stereotypical dirt covered peasants before the proud Imperial Lord as he rode through the streets upon his gold and jewel covered horse, meaning they were shunted away, kicked around and crammed into tiny little leaky hovels. And so it was that Eight had come to love them being as mal-treated and abused as he was (and likely possessing a similar quite rage and hate too) and he had few qualms about having to fix them at every single stop and show they had made since he had joined up with the crew. One of the qualms he did have was that their internal mechanisms, for that was the only term that could give remote justice to how complex these horrendous innards,

Eight was more than willing to claim to be a genius, in fact he did so on a regular basis, but it continued to astound him exactly how a steam boiler engine was able to interface with a series of circuit boards, not to mention how a dancing sunflower toy was vital to the very function of the speakers. Of course, being the genius that he was he now understood exactly how to make the speakers work, how to calibrate the fuzzy dice and when to reverse the polarity of the copper wiring (though Shademon suspected he was trying to make 'I fiddled with it a bit' sound more technical and purposeful than it truly was) but he could not comprehend what had led any engineer to design it this way.

He spent some time being more interested in how the fuzzy dice seemed to grow fur though, and seemed to have advanced from simply trimming them to actually styling them (which he claimed helped to improve the audio output), but overall he worked diligently to keep these neglected apparatus working, the diligence and the mental exercise was about all he could do to try and relax himself, which was never easy given how rowdy the rest of the work crew was but things were going to get worse.

"There is another bus coming." Shademon observed, his head barely raising from the clustered shadows of the stacked up speakers as his eyes pointed towards the new, long tour bus that was rumbling toward them.

Much like their own tour bus, it was splattered with faux graffiti and made most big rigs look like they were lacking in something, large, hard, phallic and spewing smoggy fumes, it even pulled to a halt with a similar gut-wrenching screech and the music blaring from it was equally as bad and as loud as that which resounded from Etemon's tour bus.

"Wow. I think my brain is actually trying to strangle itself." Eight quipped pointlessly, his hands rammed over his ears as Etemon cranked up his bus' in-built speakers creating a kind of prelude to the true rock-off as the two buses competed in volume and drowned out Eight's words. "Murder isn't the answer, murder isn't the answer…" He chanted as a mantra while silently counting down in his mind. He knew the speakers built into the bus as well, and he knew their limits and as they were pushed higher and higher he was gratified when they could take no more and exploded in a rain of sparks. It would mean more work for him later but as the opposing bus seemed to be built to the same specifications he was gratified to find silence reigning…except for that ringing noise…

"ETEMON!" A voice boomed with a devastating volume that had no need for speakers and was able to pierce the ringing that hung around Eight's head.

"VOLCAMON!" The boss monkey hollered back, stepping down from his own buss, tail swishing in an agitated fashion as his fat sunglasses focused upon the opposing figure.

Volcamon, whose immense mass was capable of making his bus rock as he moved down, is probably most succinctly described as being a kind of American Football Player Volcano who wore a backwards facing baseball cap. And who could sing, or so he claimed. For a more detailed description, he wore no uniform top, only the base-armour of an American Football player, though somewhat more elaborate with a great '0-1' branded upon his chest while the smoking open top of a volcano bursting from his back and like Shademon his eyes were little more than two glowing points within darkness, though in this case the light shone from within the dark confines of his helmet. But for those who are dying for that little mini-wiki-esque summary:

**Volcamon**

**Level: Ultimate**

**Type: Data**

**Attacks: **Magma Bass, Big Bang Tackle.

"Why _are_ you scanning?" Shademon asked. "You never scan, you know Digimon statistics like your favoured specifications for coffee."

"Me? I scan. I scan Digimon. I scan lots of Digimon." Eight protested.

"You never scanned any of Etemon's crew." Shademon highlighted.

**Etemon**

**Level: Ultimate**

**Type: Virus**

**Attacks: **Dark Network, Concert Crush, Monkey Claw.

**Nanimon**

**Level: Champion**

**Type: Virus**

**Attacks: **Power Drive, Exploding Punch, Party Time.

**Gazimon**

**Level: Rookie**

**Type: Virus**

**Attacks: **Electric Stun Blast, Pitfall

**Citramon**

**Level: Champion**

**Type: Data**

**Attacks: **Fruit Punch Nova, Bomber Berry.

"See. I scan lots of Digimon." Eight clicked off the Digivice's scan function.

"Why are you doing this?" Shademon sighed.

"Space needs filling." Eight shrugged. "Besides, Bullet Brat isn't here to annoy us all with his compulsive, yet informative, scanning habit. Though am I the only one noticing a slight twilight zone reflection here?"

The two groups were squaring off, like the Sharks and Jets in a really cheap and shoddy production of Westside story (though quite thankfully no-one was dancing and even more thankfully no-one was trying to sing…yet.) the ultimate level stars standing tall over their crews and band mates, each consisting of a small hoard of Gazimon with a bulbous Digimon standing in the position of 'right-hand-mon', Nanimon for Etemon and Citramon for Volcamon. It was Citramon who helped complete the mirror image, though instead of being a stumpy round man with bad body hair , while he was a stumpy round fruit with bad foliage, and was otherwise a rather perfect match for the hairy technician, right down to the bad-sunglasses.

"I somehow feel that I am not receiving the highest quality of scriptwriting in these matters." The Hacker lamented. "But we might as-well watch." He shrugged, dropping to sit down and lean back against one of the clunky speakers (the one he had named 'Betty'.)

"So! You do got the guts to show you lowly rock-tumbla!" Etemon hollered, mic in hand (though what it was connected to was a good question.)

"I'm surprised you turned up you lousy rockin' rolla'!" Volcamon boomed, his own microphone at hand.

"This here show-down is gonna be our last!"

"When I'm through you' gonna be a thing of the past!"

"Great-Gary-Gynax!" Eight exclaimed punctuating each word, agape at the prolific effort at rhyming. "Someone really is going out of their way to annoy me."

"The goal is to blow the audience away!" The monkey-man continued.

"Those are the rules by which we'll play!" The long-winded description of a Digimon followed up.

"Whoever wins this throw-down is gonna be King!" Etemon declared in his high tones.

"And the loser can never again sing!" Volcamon sounded in his deep rumble.

"What?" Eight's interest piqued, and in a sudden burst of movement (which resembled more a stumbling lurch to some) he moved directly by the first rank of (what effectively was) his side until he was face to pec with his current employer.

"What's this about the loser never singing again?" He blurted.

"Don' you worry your little head," Etemon crooned in what he supposed was an affectionate manner to a loyal roadie (and was wrong in both counts) "it's this boulder's career that's gonna be dead."

"Who ever loses kisses their record contract good-bye," Volcamon announced to the gathered crews. "and all their stuff goes to the other guy!"

A loud rumbling ran amongst the Gazimon (only a handful seemed to be concerned about job security, as most of the talk seemed to be regarding how their chosen 'rock idol' would easily win and remove the opposing 'blight upon the musical world' from existence) Etemon, Volcamon, Nanimon and Citramon were content to glare and growl at their counterparts (though both Citramon and Nanimon seemed to exhalin' the word 'foo'' every once in awhile) Eight however stood in quiet contemplation, a diabolical plan forming in his mind as he paced slowly out to the centre of the no-man's land that lay between the two rumbling forces of abhorrent rock.

"Can I compete?" He asked, finding himself ignored by said rumbling masses of abhorrent rock, prompting him to pull his own microphone from the depths of his pockets and after a short bout of negotiations with the sticky on-switch tried again. "Can I compete?" He asked once more, this time the speakers which were not currently in pieces bellowed out his words at an appropriate volume to put to peace the formerly rumbling forces of…y'know.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

The room was dark, but that was nothing unusual, it was just the way the owner liked it especially since it was a feature which when coupled with the intimidating machinery and the occasional traumatizing noises that sounded from within helped to ward off any unwanted visitors. But now there was an intruder in the lab, one who was not deterred by darkness, machinery or noise and had no intention of leaving.

"I see you have settled in chk." Yersinimon gave a distasteful look to the junk that the new-comer had moved into his personal laboratory. It might have been regarded as impressive given how long this strange being had been in the digital world but the 'equipment' was less of a technical nature and more of a domestic, in fact, it was mostly a collection of confections and sweet drinks.

"I've done well enough I suppose." The new-comer responded, hunched up in the general darkness of the lab, the light of a computer screen turning him into a darkened silhouette. "I mean, I'm still wearing the same clothes as when I arrived, am having to share a workspace, can't find a wheelie chair my size and so far it seems like no-one in this cockamamie, yes I said cockamamie, world has heard of pocky!" With a small 'tip-tap' a Floramon crept into the room, a frilly apron about her body and one of those lacy maid head bands upon her head. With a small bow she passed the cup of steaming coffee she carried to the new-comer before curtseying and exiting. "Still, I've got underlings to order around, so things are definitely looking up." Taking a sip, the man sighed happily. No pocky, but there was definitely some good coffee available. "Still, I'd prefer something foxier…I don't suppose we have a Renamon?"

Yersinimon's silence spoke volumes. Admittedly volumes of 'shut up, chk', but it was volumes none-the-less.

"So I suppose you want to know what I've been up to?" The man asked, inhaling the wondrous scent of his coffee.

"It is the most pressing question I have at present, chk." Yersinimon made his way to where the man sat, hunched up in an over-large office chair taking a seat within the other available chair. "I trust you have been carrying on the jogress research, chk?"

"Oh come now, you must take me for some kind of slow-witted fool, I've already moved on to the testing phase." The man grinned.

"Oh, chk?" Yersinmon tilted his pitch white mask to the man, the long beak seeming to glow in the light from the computer screen.

"I borrowed one of your mooks for the job, hope you don't mind."

"My mooks, as you call them, are expendable, chk. Especially if this test proves fruitful chk."

"Well, in the very least it should deal with a pair of blights upon the musical world."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"I'm not sure I can make myself any clearer on this point." Shademon's tone, that cold vicious malice, seemed to have been evolved into some new level where it was only a small hop away from actually being able to unleash a kind of freezing laser of raw hate with each syllable. The whole situation was probably the cause of this advancement, but if one wanted a single physical factor it was most likely the afro wig. "Cease with this foolishness and remove this atrocity from my head before I decide to render you quadriplegic by hacking off you legs proceeding to shatter your arms with said severed limbs!"

"I thought it would only count as quadriplegia if it was caused by spinal damage?" Eight speculated aloud.

"You say that as if it could deter me from my plans of causing you extreme pain and permanent disability."

"Now, now, if you keep being grumpy like that you'll never learn to sing in time." Eight chided his partner.

Yellow eyes twitching in a clear indication of a suppression of murderous rage, Shademon reminded himself that the Digital World had placed him with this insufferable human for a reason and that killing him would be detrimental to that purpose and even worse, leave him alone with the two crazed bands. "We both know you have no intention of actually playing this little contest straight, so let us drop the pretext so you may gloat over your actual plan and we can end our suffering."

"Actually, for once I was planning to play it straight." Eight confessed, watching as his partner took a few moments to stare intently at him, looking to see if some new bout of madness had taken over the human.

With some effort the hacker had been able to wrangle himself into the rock-off, offering himself up as a slave for life to the winner should he lose (as well as spinning some nonsense about a large inheritance waiting for him in Tsuyunoinochi that could be collected upon arrival there) and had spent the time since between fixing the damaged speakers of both teams and apparently preparing his performance, though Shademon was now in the process of dismantling the Hawaiian shirt that had been pressed upon him and would soon move to send the afro to wig heaven (or hell as he believed it was surely destined.)

"You never play it straight. You even cheat at peek-a-boo." Shademon commented, eyes savouring the shreds his claws were making of the shirt.

"I'm not even sure that's possible…nor do I know why anyone would tell you about 'peek-a-boo'." Eight gave the dark Digimon an odd look. "But look, straight up, I intend to win this contest fully through the rules laid down without a single trick or scam."

Shademon gave him a hard look of 'I am not buying this' that was made more intimidating by the mess he was making of the afro-wig, the hairy remains falling in a small snow-storm at his feet.

"Okay, maybe one teensy, weensy trick." Eight confessed with a rolling shrug. "In the very least, this has allowed me to spend my whole time fixing the speakers rather than setting up that god-damn stage." He jerked his thumb across to the impressive construct, a veritable king amongst out-door concert stages and Eight would have had to assist in piecing all those weighty parts together rather than indulge in the far more therapeutic process of fiddling with the speakers' innards.

"The great unwashed mass is approaching." Shademon continued his observations, watching as the droves of crazed fans began to arrieve, each having been following in the wake of their chosen idol.

"Excellent. In a few hours, my plan will come to fruition. Muwaha. Muwahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!" Eight bent his back and raised his arms in crooked fashion to the sky as he unleashed his best mad scientist laugh.

"I am not going on stage with you." Shademon declared in a firm tone, melting back into the shadows that he so preferred to the corporeal world.

"Oh fine, I'll handle this solo." Eight pouted.

"Full offence intended. But I've heard you sing, you make Etemon sound good." Shademon happily scathed.

"And you'd think that based on the poor taste of our audience that it would give me an easy win." Eight gave the wiring before him a puzzled look, the sort of puzzled look that comes with 'I've just touched something I probably shouldn't have and am now concerned that a wrong move will kill me.'

"Only we know that the Digital World, nay, all of existence doesn't like you that much." Shademon continued to revel in this opportunity to be as insulting as he cared to be.

"Yes, yes but being opposed to the desire and will of Gods and God-like forces has never been more than a mild obstacle to me before, so I don't see why it should be able to deter me now." His eyes had taken on that 'I think I've got it now' look as he got ready to move his hand in a manner that _should_ be safe. "Trust me Shademon, winning this contest will be no great trial and then I can get back to my real work, finding everyone else so they can help me with my research into how exactly this world works…I mean, here we have a Citramon, who is at the same height as Nanimon, while the Digimon to appear in the original anime was a BomberNanimon and was edited by the dub team to become Citramon as a giant fruit which was deemed more PC than a crazed bomb. And yet here we have a Citramon…which was an edit, appearing in the Digital World."

For a long moment Eight looked at Shademon expectantly while the shadow Digimon returned the gaze with an absolute lack of interest, reinforced when the yellow eyes closed, leaving him invisible in the darkness.

"I do not care." He sounded, sinking away, causing his partner to sag before screaming in pain as the thing he shouldn't do was done and a few wild arcs of electricity ran amok upon his body before being followed by a rather painful sounding explosion.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Whenever people go out for a big event, dressing up is a custom. From elegant ball gowns and sharp tuxedos to a fancy dinner party, to radical pink Mohawks and a hazardous number of piercings for a punk concert. The latter was rather prominent amongst the Digimon who had gathered, ranging from Centarumon with afros to Gabumon with tie-dyed Garurumon pelts. With the bizarre assortment of appearances that simple being within the Digital World aloud, let alone those that this being a rock concert added, it was little wonder that a single, shambling figure went unnoticed. In some past-life it had been a vibrant creature, though now so little of its original data remained that it was impossible to fathom what it had been, shrouded in a tattered cloak a glimpse that anyone managed to take would reveal discoloured flesh and a broad collection of wires and metal imbedded seemingly at random. But no-one noticed, there were creatures here who were dressed and studded in a similar manner purely for their own enjoyment, though even with the most unwashed of these masses this particular figure would have been considered over-ripe, the stench creating a small barrier around it that reduced the need to nudge and shunt their way through the thick crowd. It could have been assumed that it was simply pursuing a front row seat, taking advantage of their foul odour to gain the access to the front row.

But if one were listen closely to the moaning sounds it made, the way one leg dragged behind the other and the vacant look in the eyes, one may well come to another conclusion.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"You sure you wanna be doin' this you crazy foo'?" Nanimon probed as he watched Eight attempt to tune his guitar, the instrument making rather painful sounding noises.

"Are you sure you want to continue having a really inconsistent speech pattern with vague efforts to impersonate Mr T?" Eight responded, his head swinging back to dodge the potentially stinging blow of the guitar chord as he succeeded in snapping one before give it a few idle flicks opting with a shrug to leave it be.

"You don' even know how to play foo'!" Nanimon found that the breaking of a second chord to be excellent evidence.

"And Etemon and Volcamon can't sing. I still can't see your point." Eight rose, dropping the guitar into the conveniently placed waste-paper basket, plucking a fresh one from the rack. "Still, it was very kind of them to let me borrow their stuff like this."

"Don' mean you can keep breaking em'…" Nanimon sighed. "An just cause you're tone deaf don't mean that the whole audience will be."

"Oh you ninny Nanimon you." Eigh smiled a most unfriendly smile, pinching one oversized and hairy cheek of the bulbous Digimon. "Of the things in this or any world there are few things I can never forgive, and praising the catastrophic tones of those two is most definitely one of them."

"Do not argue with him." Shademon's tone was hard and icy, not the usual depressed sigh he had when referring to anything Eight was doing. "I do not like him but in comparison to everyone here I am practically in love with him. I also have not killed anything for far too long. Continue to aggravate me and I may alleviate my cravings by transforming your body into something akin to a…"

"Hey, isn't there a rule that states no-one can have a moment of dialogue longer than any of mine at any given time?" Eight interrupted.

"See? He is this annoying, and yet I can claim that my relationship with him is one of love in comparison to how I feel regarding…"

"You're evil and want to hurt something!" Eight intruded again. "We get it!" He rolled his eyes.

"Can I go now?" Nanimon asked, his cheek getting sore.

"Hm? Oh sure." Eight seemed to only just remember that he was holding the hairy Digimon and released his pinch grip on his cheek. "Run along now you hairy little dough ball."

"Crazy foo'" Was all that was uttered by the Head Technician as he made his way around to the technical teams, helping them prep for curtain up.

"Just so you do not begin to believe that I do in fact have any sort of affection with my stone cold heart. I hate you." Shademon's yellow eyes narrowed as he looked to his partner.

"Love ya too Bilbo, love ya too." Eight responded, clapping his partner on the back, drawing out a bemused expression from the living shadow. "Oh watch some TV for crying out-loud." Eight sighed. "Well, I'd best get on stage." He gave a small jocular wave before swaggering off towards the stage. "Wish me luck Baggins."

"I hope you choke on the blood and organs of the song you butcher." Shademon did the closest approximation to growling that he seemed capable of.

"Read a book!" Eight called back.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

The sun was going down and the lights were going up, various screeches echoed over the first few rows as the bands tuned their instruments, though to what extent it would improve their performance was debateable as Eight could testify to the affronts to all existence that the music of Etemon and his band alone could conjure, and from what he'd heard of and heard about Volcamon's music there was no great difference there. Of course, the crazy hoards that stood screaming in anticipation before the stage believed that these hellish notes and ghastly wails were some kind of audio ambrosia. To summarise Eight's prospects in a nutshell, he was playing against a stacked deck, and yet standing upon the stage the hacker held a calm smile.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

As the curtain rose, displaying the three 'musicians' the shambling figure came to a halt, its target sighted. The announcements being made on stage were beyond its notice, when it had been rebuilt it was left unable to care about or even be aware of such sensory inputs, anything irrelevant to its mission was ignored and what they were saying was wholly irrelevant. Dropping to the ground it let the cloak come loose, it would be necessary any longer…how true…it would not be necessary much longer…this was the end of the mission. All the body parts it had been given were designed for speed, the data modified over and over until it was beyond all recognition, sprinting and leaping, that was what it was built to do so it could complete this mission. Coiling tight, it prepared to move.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Don't you go backing out now boy." Etemon spoke to one side, a grin upon his face.

"I'm gonna enjoy having you as my slave-toy." Volcamon added.

"Not a chance and…ewww, squick." Eight glanced at the chunky Ultimate. "Seriously though, for guys who don't get along you sure do rhyme with each other a lot."

"Do not." The both uttered back.

"STAGE CRASHER!!" Nanimon suddenly cried out just as the dark figure propelled itself into the air, using one of the security guards as a spring board.

There wasn't much left of it now, just the legs and enough torso to carry the device secreted within. Landing, the creature was able to tell that one of the three by it was not one of the targets, and so Eight found himself being slammed hard in the chest by one of those powerful legs and sent flying through the air.

"Smash it!" Volcamon's hefty fist swung down.

"Bash it!" Etemon pitched in with his own fist.

"Jogress Drive…" The creature hissed, its collapsing body obliterated by the light that sprang from within. Etemon and Volcamon meanwhile seemed to be pulled into the light, like a bright equivalent of a Black Hole their bodies becoming a whirlpool of data each spiralling into the other. They had cried out, but their voices became warped and distorted very quickly. The vortex wasn't stopping with them, however, stage, lights and instruments were all being pulled into the disturbing glow, the fans cheering the spectacle on as Eight pulled himself into something resembling an upright position.

"You are not dead. Good." Shademon observed, his glowing orbs typically absent of anything resembling joy.

"Ooooh." Eight moaned clutching at his head and nursing his back. "You care? That's new."

"I do not." Shademon responded with a small indication of frustration. "But you are a necessary part of the Digital World's plans, given you are the key to my ability to Digivolve."

"You say that like it was an immediate necessity." Eight cocked his eyebrow at his partner.

A roar that was some kind of cross between a hell born beast, a pair of terrible singers and several off tune guitars and clashing cymbals tore out from the stage.

"Ah." Eight reflected.

"I AM COMPLEEEETE!!!!" The beast roared to the skies.

"Ceeeeeennnsoooooored wooooooord!" Eight crooned back, earning a hard blink from Shademon. "What? I got kinda used to the whole 'child friendly' thing the game had going on. It was kinda fun."

The newly formed creature was a horrendous amalgamation of both Etemon and Volcamon, as tall as it was broad, its body lanky and bendy in some places, and heavy and bulky in others. Guitar strings crossed its gaping maw, twaning as it spoke, drum-sticks formed a strange Mohawk out of Volcamon's helmet, while Etemon's tail erupted into many, each a sparking electrical cable. Drums formed part of the belly and stage boards acted as great shoulder guards, overall it looked like the personification of Volcamon and Etemon's terrible music and great egos, the curtain pieces which formed a kind of cloak about his neck made it all the more apparent.

"So…Beelzeboss much?" Eight quirked an eye-brow at the beast on stage.

"Beelzeboss? Yes, from now on that shall be us!" The creature declared, its many toned voice accompanied by a vicious guitar wail, the chords in its mouth vibrating.

"Oh shut up!" Eight slammed his palm into his face. "I don't think I can take much more of this nonsense."

"Does this mean I get to kill someone now?" An almost eager look passed over Shademon's face as he looked to the monstrosity whose wails were working the crowd up into frenzy, apparently approving of the ear-bleeding noise it created, along with the fact that it had just torn a surviving part of the stage into the air and had hurled it into the depths of the crowd, its muscles bulging to a size that left its biceps looking like they held more mass in them than all of Eclipsemon's body. "Although lately I have been considering the benefits of pacifism lately." The dark digimon amended, sinking back into the shadows slightly.

"Is that fear I hear in your voice?" Eight grinned.

"Unlike certain red reptiles and wide eyed puppies I understand that sometimes the best plan is not to attack the vicious beast which is 10 times your strength who can rip you in two, but to run as fast and as far away as you can."

"You can't seriously…" Eight blinked at his partner for a few moments. "Heeeey. You're developing a sense of humour, aren't you?"

"I thought you would appreciate it." Shademon inclined his head.

"You really do ca…" Suddenly a hunk of stage came flying at the pair, forcing Eight to hurl himself into the ground as Shademon dropped fully into the shadows. "Okay, less banter, more ass-kicking. Do I need to tell you what to do?"

"I've got a fair idea." The shadow crawled off backstage.

Rising, Eight looked himself over briefly. He didn't have much time to do a proper image adjustment, but he did have enough time to hurl off that stupid Etemon jacket. 'Alright, you wanna play Beelzeboss? Then let's make another reference.'

"Waaaaait! Waaaaait! Waaa-aaaaa-aaaait! You mother…" Once more he had to throw himself to the ground. "Stop throwing things at me!!!"

"You dare to challenge Beelzeboss!? We will crush you with whatever we dare toss!"

"Dear Lordi! The Sweedish Rockband just so we're clear, but do you even listen to yourself?" Eight exclaimed. "Winning this rock-off is gonna be easy."

"Rock…off…" Beelzeboss uttered, seemingly confused for a moment before the pride and memories of its composite Digimon pushed through. "YES!! WE SHALL ROCK, AND…"

"Save it for your song." Eight waved.

"Very well!!" Beelzeboss bellowed, opening its jaws wide and unleashing a noise that made Etemon's singing sound pleasant, that made fingers down a chalkboard sound vaguely appealing, which made heavy construction work next-door something to doze off to.

"Dial-up? YOU'RE SINGING IN DIAL UP!? THIS HAS CROSSED A LINE!" Eight roared, his voice drowned out by the screeching of internet's early days, the horrendous noise of audio binary wrenching into the hacker's brain. "I THOUGHT I HAD LEFT THIS NIGHTMARE BEHIND! GAH!!!"

While Eight was driven to drop to the ground and curl up, hands clamped over his ears as he suffered and screamed through the 9 minute and 51 second performance the crowd hurled themselves into a frenzy as they cheered every screech and wail and out of tune guitar twang, every thump of the drum belly and it was driving Eight mad until with a final crash and bang, it all ended, the assorted punked out Digimon making the typical devil-esque gestures with assorted flames and underwear going up.

"I see you have been floored by our awesome, you stand no chance son!"

"I know no words to describe my hate for you right now…" Eight found himself once more staggering to his feet, tapping at his ears and being satisfied that he didn't find any brain matter leaking out. "So my piece will be an instrumental…SHADEMON! MY AXE!"

"You mean the guitar right?" Shademon asked, his head sliding out from the remains of the curtains.

"Yes. Yes I do."

"Okay then. I could only find the pink one though."

"That's fine."

"Just checking."

"Thank you." Eight bowed, accepting the bright pink guitar, and proceeded to make a show of tuning it, which was pretty much all show as he didn't want to risk doing anything to the guitar that could make one of the wires burst up like he'd seen in films. He liked his eyes.

"Oh, you got one of those 'pick' things as well?" He called again.

"Yes." Shademon's hand offered a sparkly blue one.

"Thanks."

"Welcome."

"Y'know…It's true…I probably do have even less musical talent that you guys do…but what I do have, that you don't, is amazing technical skills, a dedication to using the rules to my utmost advantage and an excellent technical ability."

"We don't get where your at, just give us your last wail you drowning cat."

"Fine fine…" Turning to the crowd, he cleared his throat, waiting patiently for them to quiet down enough for his shouts to be heard. "This one is an oldie…well…it's an oldie where I come from."

And then he ran to the very back of the stage, placing himself right behind those colossal speakers he was continual left in charge of maintaining, the ones he had worked out how to crank up to an effective volume of 800 (or so he claimed). With Shademon pushing the speakers to that high limit, however, the single, garbled note that Eight managed to bring out of his guitar was released as a wall of sonic force that tore up all that stood before it, obliterating the stage and hurling 'Beelzeboss' into the air. The blast didn't stop there though, picking up the massive crowd and throwing them backwards many of them experiencing flight for the first time as the note lifted earth, trailers and eventually dumped them all a good twenty or so feet back, Beelzeboss crashing to the ground with an almost comic eruption of breaking instruments, the Jogress collapsing and leaving an exhausted looking Etemon and Volcamon prone on the ground. It took some minutes for enough of the crowd to stand up or plain old regain consciousness in order to cheer, but the cheer they unleashed was enough to make a standing ovation sit down.

Or at least Eight would like to think so.

"I SAID, YOU'RE ONE CRAZY FOO'!!!" Nanimon roared at Eight.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU! I'VE BEEN DEAFENED BY MY OWN AWESOME!" Eight yelled back, wedging one finger in his ear, trying to find a way to rid himself of the loud ringing that currently filled his head.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Well…"

"Chk…"

"That was interesting…"

"Chk…"

"I guess it's worth noting that the Jogress can collapse, especially if put under extreme pressure…"

"Chk…"

"Are you going to actually contribute anything beyond your little signature, verbal tick?"

"I feel like I have just wasted months of my life, chk."

"Ten months?"

"Where did you get that number,chk?"

"Just off the top of my head."

Sighing, Yersinimon rose, snatching up his cane as he did so and made to shuffle out of the lab.

"You're not leaving _now_ are you?" The man whipped his chair around.

"Yes. It is late and our camera was destroyed by that sound blast, chk." Yersinimon didn't even look back. "And unlike you, I do not care to remain up all night unless it is to be profitable, chk."

"I swear, my time is going to be used wisely…maybe get that Floramon maid back in here…"

"Ch…you humans have some weird tastes, chk."

"Good-night Yersinimon." The man cooed.

"Chk." Yersinimon sniffed as he left the room.

"Feh. Not even a 'Good-Night Cecil.'" The man swirled around on his chair once more. "Floramon, could you come back to the lab please? Yes, wearing the costume. Good good, see you soon." Picking up a biscuit wafer, he dipped it into the small pot of chocolate taking a bite and sighing. "Pokkin…" He uttered. "It's just not the same."

"Mr Cecil?" A sweet voice came from the doorway, a smile forming on the man's face.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"What do you mean you win?" Etemon howled.

"A conclusion like that is some sorta sin!" Volcamon joined in.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen." Eight beamed. It had taken until late afternoon the next day, but everyone's hearing was mostly back, even if they still heard that buzzing sound. "I believe the goal of the contest was, and I quote, 'to blow the audience away.' Now, inspired though your performance was, the audience failed to move very far, while my single note succeeded in moving them a full 20 or so feet. Therefore, I won."

Etemon and Volcamon made an effort to argue, but unfortunately were not of the mind to be able to challenge the hacker, nor did they have the backing as apparently their hard-core fans had found that literally being moved by their music was the best experience they could have.

"Now, shall we adjourn to _my_ buses and make our way to Marsupalami?" Eight turned, gesturing to the waiting vehicles.

"But it's not called…"

"Oh…It will be when I'm done with it." Eight grinned.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

**Raven: **Man, I told Keyo not to hide this thing so well. Burying treasure is one thing, but the cursed woods I had to crawl through were a bit much.

I really can't apologize any amount that makes up for the tardiness of this chapter. A good nine months or so were used to take a break of this story, time that was mostly spent coming up with too many ideas for new, original stories. About a month ago we got back into a fanficcing groove, and now I've begun work on an Armored Core fic (don't expect it anytime soon though) while we've made some crazy changes to the future of this story due to problems we had with the original idea.

Perhaps you'd like to hear a little of those problems. Frankly, our main concern has been quantity of content. We've had snippets of encounters and fights in mind, but felt like we needed to add stuff in between them. And finally, we've decided to stuff it and streamline the entire process. We still need to make one or two more scenarios, but the gist of the story is done. Every plot twist, every red herring, every douchebag named Ryan Seacrest. So, with a little motivation from me (aka Ye Olde Whippy), Keyo should be able to get back to cranking these chapters out. That is also another problem, the quality of content. After arriving in the Digital World, we've been hard pressed to keep up the awesome we've managed. We also don't like making chapters as short as they used to be anymore, so…yeah. Once a week updates are not liable to happen any more, and it would probably be more realistic to set your goals for once a month. Still, we have not, nor do we intend to, drop this story. We just ask you to bear with us as we work on bringing you our vision. Thank you for your time, patience, and appreciation of our work.

**Keyo:** There are two schools in the world of web publication. The first is 'it doesn't matter what, just update on time' and the second is 'screw the updates, make sure it's good.' Really, I'm of the latter, especially since no-one is paying me to do it on time. I know that these huge gaps are going to cause a cut in our readership, and are quite upsetting if anyone starts to think we aren't coming back, but I assure you, no matter how long we vanish off for, we always will come back.

Originally, I looked forward to this chapter, I really did. It was going to be a largely light-hearted affair but then I got bogged down in how it just doesn't work and wound up being unable to write anything that remotely satisfied me in any way shape or form and I wasn't going to inflict that on you guys. So once again, our sincere apologies for the wait.

I don't know if 'Once a month' will be an accurate update schedule, but it may very well be that, however, this will be the much needed time we'll need to make sure our story doesn't get tangled. Really, we wound up with far, far too much and now we're trying to make sense of it all. I really don't want to wind up 'making it up as I go' as I like to be able to allow people to look back and go 'aaaaahhhhh' when some things just make sense.

Until next time.

**Keyo & Raven**.


	45. Chapter 45

Cue opening theme song. Notes at the end.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Some towns in the Digital World exist in total isolation and the mountain town of Petit Noir was one such town. This small encampment of civilisation was reminiscent of some ignorant man's idea of medieval Europe save for a monstrous black tower spiralling up from the centre. The tower looked almost organic, with dark roots of stone spiralling through the streets, seeming to suck the life right out of the town leaving the inhabitants pale and drooping. Whatever story there was behind the tower or whatever more could be said about it was rendered irrelevant as the whole construct shuddered before seeming to simultaneously wither and collapse, dark stone falling as the blocky roots shrivelled and died in the streets. With wide eyes the goat-like digimon who lived in the town watched as the physical shadow which had for so long dominated their lives died in a blaze of orange light. A heavy dust spread out through Petit Noir, and on-lookers gazed in awe as a white figure strode out from the wreckage, his magnificent cape not so much as dirtied by the collapsing masonry and whatever conflict had taken place within the tower left the glorious white armour without even so much as a scratch. Beneath this shining figure strode a smaller one, clad in a smart business suit and equally unaffected by the dirt and chaos.

"H…how did you do this?" One of the goat-digimon asked in awe as the knight reached where he stood, the dust settling as cheer began to sing out amongst the residents.

"We simply applied our power the way it should be." The man responded. "One moment." He raised a hand with such authority that the digimon preparing to surge him in celebration immediately froze. "Omnimon?"

The white knight Digimon didn't make any kind of response other than a small shift in stance before a roar resounded through the cavern that surrounded Petit Noir as a colossal hand of black brick erupted from the ruins of the tower and surged forward. With devastating speed it moved to crush the Royal Knight and the gathered Digimon only to be neatly severed as Omnimon whirled around, unsheathing his Transcendent Sword and cutting through brick and earth, causing the great hand to collapse into harmless brick and mortar once more. Completing the turn the shining Knight unleashed a single shot from his Supreme Cannon, the golden shot punctured the stump where the great hand had once been and raced down the length of the monstrous limb, scattering pieces of it down onto the ground and into the air before reaching the dark heart powering this final effort at malice upon the town and destroying it with a thunderous roar.

"Honestly." Kuan Yu sighed. "Let's get going Omnimon." With a silent nod, the towering knight turned to follow his partner, his weapons retracting in their respective holds, his grand cloak settling about his body.

"Wait! You won't stay and celebrate with us?" One of the goat digimon asked.

"Dawn is breaking." Kuan nodded to the light creeping up through the ridges. "I want to make as much time as possible."

"Did you manage to find out anything about your friend?"

"No." Was the curt reply.

The other goat like Digimon could not restrain their joy at their new freedom any longer as dancing and cheering broke out, new strength already returning to the small town.

"Before you go, thank you for saving us." The goat bowed. "We are in your debt. Thank you so much!"

"You have no need to thank us." Kuan stopped, casting a look back at the digimon. "We are Royal Knights; it is our duty to protect the Digital World."

'Royal Knights…' The goat digimon looked on in awe as the magnificent pair left the small, dark town, heading off into the dawn just as its light began to creep into Petit Noir for the first time in a long time.

As they trudged down the rocky mountainside, Kuan could feel his partner's large blue eyes upon him. The great white knight had said not a single word since they had arrived in this world, but he was fully aware of his partner's sentience, that there was now a mind within that helm. They had no conversations but he knew Omnimon's thoughts as the Knight could read his own. There was no trick of telepathy or any other nonsense involved, each simply understood the other, and they were both very straightforward men after all.

"Don't give me that look. I already know that I sounded exactly like _him_." He sighed, quite sure that his partner was smiling in his own way.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Of Blood and Binary

Chapter 45: Reunion!

Their winding paths finally meet again.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Well that's certainly…" There were few words Vincent could think of at the moment to adequately describe the creation before him.

"I think I did something wrong again." BB confessed.

The cake looked, for lack of a better word, dead. Any sort of cakey vitality the confectionary was meant to posses was completely absent. It was lopsided in at least three different ways, and the healthy 'just baked shine' was replaced with a sort of 'ready to decompose' dullness. Even the colour itself was wrong, a muddy grey rather than the intended crisp brown. Ingredients seemed to have tried to reconstitute themselves in some way and try to escape, and overall the cake looked like something Mary Shelly would have had Frankenstein bake if he had been trying to imbue life to dead pastry. In short, BB had indeed done something wrong.

But Vincent was damned if he actually knew what.

"I uh…seems so." Vincent confessed, inspecting the cake from varying angles as he tried to find some sign of where and how BB had managed to create this thing.

Food, the group had found, was the key to a lot of things in the Digital World and Vincent had been surprised at how fast his arm had healed through a combination of eating and sleeping. He had once again become master and commander of his kitchen but had opted to continue teaching BB to cook, in part because the boy earnestly wanted to learn how and in even great part to figure out exactly what was the source of his apparent 'anti-cooking' skills. It also made for a nice distraction from the whole 'stranded and lost in an alien world at war' thing.

"Now really bohys, must you keep perfomin' these experiments of yours when Ah am tryin' to dine?" Ranamon pined from her spot at the counter, stirring her tea with her legs daintily crossed in a manner that tended to prove to have enough of an alluring appeal to distract the two youths should they give her too much attention.

"Hmmm…maybe it's the other way around." Vincent mused.

"Whatevah do you mean sugah?" Ranamon quired, laying her tea-spoon down.

"Yeah…" BB joined. "What is it?"

"Well…what if the reason all your efforts at cooking are messed up is because you keep getting…em…" He glanced at the Digimon in question, gaining a small bit of colour as he did. "Well, distracted by Ranamon."

"You're kidding me right?" BB stared hard at the older boy. "There's no way she can be doing what I think you're saying she's doing. I mean, she's a frog! There's no way I'd find a slimy thing like her pretty!"

"Why sah Ah do declare!" Ranamon cut in, the fin like protrusions on her head wiggling in agitation. "Ah do believe you ahre sellin' me short!" She propped her elbows onto the counter, leaning her weight on it.

"I am not you…you…"

She was doing it on purpose, Vincent knew that, but BB was simply far too distracted. Ranamon didn't exactly have 'ample assests' but she seemed capable of working what she did have and squeezing them together at that angle right in-front of BB's eyes was causing the boy to go all glassy eyed and red in the face until Vincent dropped a tall menu down between the two to act as a buffer.

"That's enough of that you two." He interjected, prompting BB to blink and Ranamon to giggle in a superior fashion.

"Ah hope Ah have made mah case, sah." Ranamon winked at the hormonal youth before turning her attention to the elder. "But must you be such a boy-scout? You'll nevah have any fun if y'all keep bein' so straight laced…" With her attention now entirely on the elder human, she kept up her enticing act, wiggling around so as to ensure her entire body was not exactly a safe zone for his eyes, which he promptly shielded with the menu, whipping it up in front of his face.

"Kn-Knock it off Ranamon!" Vincent stammered, edging back from the counter as Ranamon kept up her assault before collapsing into a fit of giggles.

"Y'all see what Ah mean?" She smiled.

"Ugh…I'm gonna go and get some fresh air…" The teen sighed, pulling off his apron and hanging it upon the small brass peg that sat on the cooking side of the counter. "BB, if anyone wants anything…"

"I know, I know." The youth gave an overly dramatic sigh, almost a parody of his seniors. "Tell them only the cold menu is available or the soup, don't try and cook or bake _anything_."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

The Trailmon was not of luxurious enough quality to have an observation car, so being able to lean on the railings of the guard's car and look out at the landscape was an employee privilege. The landscape was now mostly green grasslands, the trail tracks cutting a swathe through the land. Out here where there was nothing else to distract him Vincent let himself become wrapped in the rushing wind and the heavy 'chug-a-chug' of Trailmon's engine, there was something soothing about it all.

"Y'know, if you're gonna come out here and sulk every time someone makes you laugh…" Komodomon grinned, looking down from where he lounged on the roof of the guard car.

"I'm not sulking." Vincent responded, glancing up at his partner.

"Oh dude you are. I mean, you've got those droopy eyes and the overuse of sighs going on. If I didn't jump in you'd do nothing else."

An exasperated sigh escaped Vincent's mouth.

"See what I mean?"

"Do you live up there now or what?"

Chuckling, the red lizard dropped down from the rooftop to join his partner on the observation plat-form swiftly hauling himself up onto the railing to face his partner, his tail coiling about the metal bars to help keep his balance.

"So what are you sulking about now, that fighting the bad-guys got so nasty, that we caused so much collateral damage, or about everyone who is missing or how despite your immense pride in your, may I say, quite substantial cooking skills," this was marked with a licking of his non-existent lips, "you still haven't managed to teach B.B to cook? So what are we moping about today?"

"Am I really that bad?" Vincent winced.

"Oh yeah. You're like Batman. Only it's just the brooding and none of the bad-assery."

"Hey, I'm bad-ass!" Vincent retorted.

"Hey, who was the one who got in a smack down with a psychotic golden knight?" Komodomon puffed up.

"Oh c'mon, I'm the one who rigged up the bomb!" Vincent threw back.

"Yeah, which I blew up." Komodomon poked his partner with one long claw.

A grin broke out on Vincent's face before quickly vanishing again.

"Oh, I get it. This is guilt." Komodomon shook his head. "You gonna be like this the whole trip? Cause the 'stoic, gloomy loner' bit is really boring and terrible and just no fun at all."

"You can't ask me not to take this seriously."

"That's not what I'm saying. But you're going to stress yourself out this way, and if you're gonna be so determined to look after everyone that'd be a really bad thing. You can at least brood over our plans for the future, y'know, be productive in your angst." Breaking on a cheesy smile, Komodomon looked up at his partner. "What are they by the way?"

"The great Komodomon doesn't know what to do next?" The smile didn't leave Vincent's face this time.

"I told you, I'm the one who gets all bad-ass in the enemy's face. You're the one who does all that broody thinky stuff."

"Heh, fine, fine." Vincent adopted a parody of 'The Thinker', setting one foot against the railing and setting his chin upon his knee. "Really, we have little option but _to_ stick to the original plan. Find everyone and get Eight Ball to get us home. But we'll need to try and turn somewhere into a gathering point. Tsuyunoinochi is very likely going to be a battle-zone, and given our goal is to save everyone, taking them to the heart of a war is nothing short of a bad idea."

"So in short, there's nothing new." Komodomon let out an extended groan. "And here I was giving you a chance to be useful and feel good about yourself."

"Why thank you for trying oh great and wise Komodomon." Vincent flourished a bow.

"You're welcome my trusted right hand, the brilliant lord Komodomon will…" The lizard's nostrils flared as he took in an odd scent, his tongue jetting out to taste the air a few times to confirm. "Does the smoke smell a little different to you all of a sudden?"

"You know that my nose doesn't rank against that tongue of yours." Vincent turned to lean against the rails, suddenly straightening with his face furrowing into a frown as he looked down the side of the Trailmon. "But my vision's sharp enough, there's a second stream of smoke coming from inside the train, I mean, Trailmon."

Komodomon's tongue lashed out again. "And it tastes like cake mix."

The two shared a look for the briefest of moments before Komodomon leapt back onto the roof of the carriage as Vincent hauled open the door to get back in, the same name roaring from their mouths.

"B.B!!!!'

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

In Trailmon's control room, Gazimon wiped his brow. Given the nature of his species he didn't sweat, but he did get coated in dust from Trailmon's furnace, though should he reflect on it wiping his brow with a dust covered arm wasn't a very productive way to do things.

Ah, how good it was, he reflected, to have staff on board. The Trail service was suffering from budget cuts and his run just wasn't high-profile enough to get him any staff. But now that he had people to cook, clean and care for the passengers he could focus on what made most every Trailmon Driver take up the job.

_Bossing people around!!!_

Of course, having the time to actually be a driver rather than a glorified ticket salesman was also a very nice perk, and he did so enjoy spending time in Trailmon's control room. Utility Digimon like Trailmon tended to be more than happy to fulfil their function and shuttle people around, but could be a bit touchy about letting someone else attempt to do anything like _drive_ them. Trailmon had a bit less of this to worry them as they ran on tracks, more focused on speed and punctuality than roaming the world, but still didn't enjoy the thought of someone waltzing in and messing with their system, so to be a Trailmon driver required that same frame of mind to get everything done _exactly_ right. That Gazimon had strict rules about employee toilet paper use (even before he had employees) was a sign of exactly why he was able to come and go as he pleased from his partner's control room.

"Hmm…Someone's getting hungry." He mused, tapping one of the gauges that sat around the furnace. "Coal's all well and good I suppose but a Digimon needs a _real_ meal every once and awhile."

The 'huff huff huff' of Trailmon's engines briefly became a 'haw haw haw'.

"We get a rest over in at our next stop, so just a couple more hours and we'll be filling you up on the best pop-corn bread and soup this side of Mt Infinity!"

The following 'choo choo' was definitely more of a 'woo hoo.'

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Mmmmmoooooohhhh…"

"Wha's wrong Taaaaan-ya!"

Half-way out of her waitress uniform, Tanya lay back upon her borrowed bed. Her hair was spilled out around her, pulled free from the ribbons that tied it up while working and the ceiling was an indistinct brown blur to her before she returned her glasses to her face.

"Oh, it's nothing Lupmon."

"Pupmon!" The small bundle of fur protested in a cute squeaky voice that sounded rather like the yip of a small puppy. "I keeps tellin' you to calls me Pupmon when I'm likes this." Reduced to her in-training state the doggy Digimon was now a big ball of fur, with adorable round eyes and a mouth that dominated most of the 'body' as was standard of in-training Digimon (with a little dark dot of a nose in the middle) with Lupmon's twitchy dog ears sticking out on top and a miniature version of her whapping tail poking out the back, a thick red collar sat about the joint between tail and body, a brass tag with Digicode inscribed upon it was attached to it which Totemmon had translated as 'Pupmon'. "It even says on my collar!" The little Digimon emphasised, trying to turn around so as to actually _see_ the loop of leather that sat at her back and wound up in a rather amusing bouncing ball version of chasing her own tail which carried on even after she lost her balance and wound up rolling and bouncing all over the floor, leaving her distracted from her previous objectives and growling at her own back end. Giggling at her partner's antics, Tanya slowly shifted to a sitting position and bent to scoop the basket-ball sized bundle of puppy-esque cuteness into her arms prompting her to stop her mad chase and snatch the chance for affection and nuzzle into her partner's body, tail wagging away.

"You are so cute." The teen cooed, scratching at her partner's ears. "And sorry, I'm just used to calling you Lupmon. I also figured that you'd have turned _back_ by now…"

"If I does turn back I wanna be Lupmon again and not a pumpkin like that carriage in the Cindarelly story you told me…but I would likes to eat a pumpkin!"

Chuckling, Tanya continued to scratch at Pupmon's round form prompting more tail wagging and various high pitched content little puppy noises in response to the girl's ministrations.

"I guess…" Tanya started up eventually, her fingers slowing to a halt. "I guess that I just don't want to leave here…I mean, it's peaceful and it's safe and there's nice food and…nothing bad has happened in ages and what if we go out and something bad does happen?"

"I don't like bad things." Pupmon pouted. "Lets stay here!"

"But…but if we don't go we'll probably never find a way to go home…and we'll never find the others…we'll never see Bobby or Cait or Komodomon…"

"Ooooh…I don't want that…I want to see Aniki again…" Pupmon's face scrunched up in an effort to think, before going all light and cheery as if the negative thoughts had just popped out of one ear. "Then lets go find them!"

"If you're looking for advice, you're talking to the wrong mon." Koromon bounced into the room, long floppy ears trailing behind as always. "That little bit can barely tell her tail from her top."

"I can too Koromon!" Pupmon squeaked from Tanya's arms. "Dis is my tail and…and…" The mind of her in-training form even more loose and addled than that of her rookie form, Pupmon found herself focusing upon her tail too much and once again began a bold effort to chase it tumbling from her partner's arms and to the floor without a break in her pursuit.

"See what I mean?" Koromon quirked an eye-brow, a very odd expression upon the bulbous face of the in-training Digimon before it was pushed into an Picasso like visage and a warped squawk was released as Liz's foot came down upon the pink little body.

"Whoops, sorry Koromon." The blonde apologised to her diminutive partner, lifting her foot and allowing the ball like Digimon to hop away. "Hey Tanya, the Trailmon is pulling in soon! Wanna go check it out?" Still in her waitress uniform Liz was clearly not keen on staying still. While Tanya had practically settled down in the small town, Liz maintained a longing to resume their journey and escape her frilly little apron.

"Huh, oh, sure!" Tanya rose, scooping up Pupmon and following her friend, not bothering to tidy up her appearance at all, and shuffled over toward her friend.

"Hey, you okay?" The teen asked, taking note of the dark haired girl's dour expression.

"Yeah, I was just thinking." Tanya sort of confessed.

"You were worrying again, weren't you?" Liz smiled gently as Tanya tucked her head to hide her face. Reaching out, she took one of Tanya's hands and clasped it tightly. "It's okay. Remember, Agumon and I will protect you no matter what." Koromon was polite enough not to correct Liz on what would be the presently accurate terminology.

"And me!" Pupmon added, big round eyes gazing up at her partner.

"Yeah…" Tanya looked sheepish, her worries not dispelled but with Liz's hand holding hers tight she felt better able to handle what was to come. Besides, right now they were only going to _look_ at a large train-like Digimon.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

The small town was illuminated by moon and candlelight, a cluster of the town's inhabitants stood waiting at the long wooden platform which passed as their Trail station. The Trailmon only came through once a month so there were many Digimon to be welcomed home from having travelled afar, of course the town's hospitality extended to other travelling Digimon who may just be willing to part with some of their hard earned money at the inn.

"It's a warm night, isn't it?" Liz commented, looking up at the sea of stars overhead, the light pollution from the town far too little to obscure their view in any real way.

"We are living right next to a jungle." Koromon piped up.

"Isn't that a bit weird though…" Tanya mused, still hugging Pupmon close. "I mean, that this town has a Wild West theme but it's built next to a jungle straight out of some Africa adventure fantasy?"

The two humans and Koromon briefly shared a collective and contemplative 'huuhh' before a dot of light caught their attention, Fugamon's deep voice roaring out 'here she comes!' as the Trailmon began to come into view, a trails of steam pouring form the funnels along the worm type's head.

Releasing a long 'chooo' that was as deep as the screech of his breaks were high-pitched, Trailmon pulled into the small make-shift station, his long line of carriages clattering to a stop behind him as with a great 'phoosh' that sounded a bit like someone starting to regain their breath a final wave of steam was released as the passengers and crew began to disembark.

"GAZIMON!" One of the farmers cried out upon seeing the driver swing out from the cabin.

"Hey there Gazimon!" He called back, dropping into the hoard of grey fur that welcomed him.

"Can't believe it's been a month already Gazimon!"

"Time sure can fly Gazimon!"

"Gazimon will be pleased to know you're in town again Gazimon!"

"Are we really going through with this again?" BB grumbled, shooting the crowd of bunny-wolf Digimon an odd look, his face pressed against the window of the dining car. "I really didn't think there'd be this many Gazimon in the digital world."

"The Digital World works in mysterious ways?" Komodomon shrugged.

The small group was spread around the Dining Car, with Komodomon and BB by the windows while Bulletmon and Kotemon dutifully wiped down the tables. Ranamon had retired to her room, citing her right as a passenger to go to bed at a decent hour and Vincent had departed to clean the remains of BB's cooking from himself.

"Say, do you think we'll be allowed to check the town out?" B.B asked, his eyes wandering away from the hoard of Gazimon.

"Who knows." Komodomon twisted his head around as he tried to get a better view. Occasionally he was envious of predatory mammal types for their facial structure, his lizard face required a lot of neck twisting to see out of the confounded window. "We're only stopping for the night and I don't think there's anything much to see anyway. B.B?"

The boy in question was gone from his previous perch and running out the cabin door as fast as his legs would carry him, Komodomon's voice falling upon deaf ears and even his partner's cry of 'Kaizer' went unheard.

It had been _her_. There was no way to mistake it, Gazimon came only up to the chest of most humans and Betamon only reached their knees if you counted their fins, and fortune apparently dictated that the only two Digimon in the village who would be capable of obscuring the human from his view were positioned away from the girl.

The concept that he would need Gazimon's permission to disembark had vanished from his mind and he initially slammed straight into the door of the carriage before frantically fumbling with the awkward little silver handle and casting the door as wide open as a single shunt would allow him before leaping down upon the platform he cried out as loud as he could, his lone voice slamming against the chattering of the gathered Digimon and the noise of gushing steam from Trailmon just as his body slammed against those blocking his way to the human girl.

"TAAAANYAAAA!!!!"

She didn't notice. Her name was said and called enough in this town that the faint sound of it made little impact on her, and doing himself no favours in making a first impression upon the town's inhabitants BB made a dash for her, elbowing and shunting those who got in his way, his voice calling out over and over, his vocals battering and hammering against the surrounding noise, pushing to reach her just as he did until finally making her head turn, the mighty Trailmon ceasing to be the focus of her attention as the familiar tugged at her, pulled at her and brought her to stare at the young boy with wide eyes, her mouth hanging slack for a moment before crying out in response.

"BOBBY!"

She got only two paces in her effort to reach him before he slammed into her, his arms wrapping about her body and his hands taking fistfuls of her clothing as he buried his face in her body as if terrified someone would try and snatch her away, he continued to holler her name into her gut, the sound muffled beyond most recognition as the child held on and Tanya reciprocated the gesture, pulling the boy tight against her.

"You're okay…you're okay…" She hushed, seeming more to be reassuring herself than the boy, confirming that her former charge was right here.

"The Hell!?" Liz and Koromon exclaimed.

"I'mf giffing squiffed!" Pupmon contributed from where BB was driving her against her partner.

"It's Bobby!" Tanya beamed, her smile teary but joyful.

"Bobby?" Liz questioned for a moment.

"The Sephy kid." Koromon provided. "Guess that tin-can partner of his is near too." It added, sounding more like it was compiling a list of potential threats.

"Bobby…Bobby, you're crushing Pupmon." Tanya gentle eased the young boy back, allowing her partner to wriggle free of her confines.

"Pwhaaaaaaaaa!!!" She gasped, having bounced her way to the top of the boy's head. "Tanya, Tanya! Guess what!?" She beamed, continuing to bounce upon her new perch.

"Uh, is that Lupmon?" BB asked, calming down a little and wincing under the pressure the small fur ball was exerting with each landing.

"A lot's happened." Tanya's smile couldn't fall, but it did twitch as recent events were called back to her mind.

"Taaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnyyyaaaaaaaa!!!" Pupmon continued to pine, not used to having to compete for her partner's attention.

"Sorry Pupmon, what is it?" Tanya looked to the doggy-ball, hoping that she'd calm down a little.

"Aniki! Sephy smells of Aniki! So Aniki is here! Aniki! Aniki! Aniki!" She cheered, still barely comprehending the meaning of the word but happy to be able to say it again.

"Oh. Komodomon's here too?" Koromon spoke up; its look of curiosity vanishing as Liz unceremoniously dropped it to the ground with a 'clump' before seizing BB by his shirt and hauling him off the ground.

"_He's_ here too, isn't he!?" She near bellowed at the boy.

"Wh,wha!?" BB stammered, his face paling in shock as he clung to Liz's arms from fear.

"Liz what are you…!"

"Lizmon…"

"If that red treasure rat is here then his dust ball doormat partner is too!" Liz's face was contorted in a kind of fury that Tanya could even name. "Where. Is. He!?"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"It figures." Vincent grumbled, as Trailmon grumbled to a halt. The youth had spent his time sitting on the awkward little stool spraying himself down with the showerhead and now the train digimon had stopped just as he had finished. "Sod it." He decided, casting off the towel and re-entering the shower, switching it back on and welcoming the warm water that fell on him. It wasn't Shanty's hot spring, but a proper shower was much more appealing than balancing on the plastic (was it plastic, it hadn't occurred to him before but he had no idea what these things were actually made of. Something else to ask Eight about.)

It annoyed him that finding Eight was such a high priority. The hacker had been something of a late comer to the Nightmare Soldiers but had swiftly attained a high rank thanks to his immense abilities which did his reputation more than justice. But a people person he was not, and he seemed to take delight in messing around with people lives. Hell! There was no 'might' about it! The man seemed to place screwing around with peoples lives as his absolute favourite hobby.

Eight was a means to an end, the teenager reminded himself. To think of the hacker as a tool (a phrase Komodomon would most definitely take opportunity to joke about) was distasteful but at the same time made the man more tolerable. He was _needed_ to help the others get back home to safety. End of story.

The others though…

There was so much that Vincent knew about the other NS members, but at the same time so very little. He could talk a lot about Tatum's motherly nature, or Min's amusing short fuse, or of how Foxtrot would obsess over stealth and complex codes. He even had a good rant stored up about the varying ways in which EightBall infuriated him but he knew next to nothing about the real lives of these people.

It was possibly why he often preferred the company of the Digimon within the organization. They only had this one life to lead, there was no dual identity for them to put up with. They didn't hide away within a fantasy world, they lived in it and thus their true personalities were always on display. His own partner Komodomon with his relentless ego and strong ideals of comradeship and adventure, Agumon and his dedication to 'the next fight', forever pursuing greater strength, the Brigadier-General and his never-ending patience, the Brigadier and her boundless curiosity. And then there was Lupmon and Bulletmon, the two new comers were wonderful straightforward. Lupmon with her great childish innocence and love, and Bulletmon with his level head and relentless dedication to his partner.

With a wry smile he thought of that partner, the boy who had so boastfully named himself 'Digital Kaiser Sephriroth', a name no-one _but_ his green armoured partner had ever acknowledged him by. Now he was very glad to be able to say he knew him and was willing to place his faith in the boy to watch his back in the dangerous parts of this new world they continued to encounter. But he was also glad to have him under his care. He had been responsible for bringing him into the Nightmare Soldiers, and by extension, at least as far as the adventurer himself was concerned, for bringing him to the Digital World. But there was still Dainya. No. Tanya, he corrected himself. He had gleaned that much, at least, from his talks with BB. The girl seemed to be as kind and sensitive as she had presented herself in Digimon Online, and that only made Vincent worry more. In the wake of the terrible mutiny that cost several NS Digimon their lives, more and more barriers had seemed to go up between the members as time passed. Within Dai…Within Tanya and Lupmon he had seen a tender heart and compassion that was the sort needed to help mend the damaged bonds that the traitor had left behind. They simply had to be okay, he would never be able to forgive himself otherwise.

"God, Komodomon's right." He admitted out loud. "He leaves me alone for five minutes and I just start to brood."

In all fairness, there had been a lot of brooding he'd been avoiding. Talking about everything that needed to be done or the things he just felt guilty about was easy. One resulted in impromptu team meetings and asserting their goals all over again, giving him a sense of control over the sudden chaos in his life. The other usually resulted in Komdomon telling him to stop worrying so much and beginning to boast so much about Lupmon, his loyal subordinate, and her ability to defend Tanya that you could swear the red lizard was the dopey dog's father. And what's more you couldn't help but believe in the faith he had in her that Vincent wouldn't need to 'never forgive himself' because they'd be absolutely fine. These things were, by contrast, simply concerns, concerns that could be dispelled and dealt with. Unlike other things.

Like Richard and Agumon.

Like how Liz was dealing with it.

Vincent constantly hoped that his friend had wound up travelling with Tatum, or Apemon, or anyone who could help support her. If she and Agumon were alone then they would never talk about it, they'd be too concerned with trying to be tough, and if she were stuck looking after someone she'd just bottle it up all the more. It really wouldn't be good for her or whoever was too close when she eventually popped.

Really, he just wanted her with him. So that he could tell her that everything would be okay, so that she could tell _him_ everything would be okay. Richard had been his friend too and he was also a teenager in over his head in an alien world. He'd helped to kill someone for crying out loud! There was a war going on in this world and he wanted to know that one of the most important people in his life was safe and for them both to make sure they both stayed that way. He wanted Liz protecting him as much as he wanted to be able to protect her.

'She's a smart girl, smarter than you.' He told himself. 'She's probably heading to Tsuyunoinochi too." He didn't know how much he believed that. The digital world was big and she could be anywhere in it, but it helped to believe it was so.

His concerns that Liz lay on some far away point within the seemingly infinite Digital World were shattered as a pounding began upon the bathroom door. He was initially waiting for the voice, to decide if he was going to shout for Komodomon and BB to give him five more minutes, or tell some irate customer that the dinning car was closed (for the 6th time tonight) when an all too familiar female voice brought the rest of his world into silence.

"VINCENT! VINCENT REEVES OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!" Liz threatened, rattling the small handle in a further bid to force her way into the small shower room.

Under these circumstances Vincent should have been cautious. He knew well enough from the Digimon TV series, manga, games and first hand experience how duplicitous the Digital World could be. The voice on the other side of the door could belong to some impersonating monstrosity, some other agent of the Lord of Pride sent after them. But he was so desperate to reach that voice that he only had sense of mind enough to grab his towel again before lunging for the lock and he barely had time to step back before his dear, dear blonde friend barrelled through door and slammed into him, swiftly backing him up against the wall and pinning him in place.

"You jack-ass! What were you thinking running off and leaving me in charge of people!" She hissed at him. "It's your job to look after everyone you know!" She exploded.

"Ah…y-yeah." Vincent stammered. He knew his friend well, and that included her volatile temper. She had left him with a few black eyes and bruises over the years from every fight he'd had to pull her from; once that temper flared no-one was safe. But that didn't stop his body from reacting. It was her. It was really her. The blonde hair and blue eyes, the face scrunched up in fury and hurt, every bump, scrape and scar. The pink waitress outfit and his state of undress barely registered as he reached out and pulled her into a crushing hug, destroying their mutual balance and causing them to fall to the floor.

"What're you…" Liz began, her anger shaken by the suddenly fall and intimacy of their new position; she was practically in his lap, but found her words cutting off as Vincent pulled her in tighter.

"You're okay…" His breath was shaky as he pressed his forehead into her hair. "I'm so glad…"

"Hey…" Liz tried to speak up, but found no other words would come.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" Vincent muttered over and over, tears running down his face and into Liz's hair.

"Don't talk like that…" Liz tried her best to scold, burying her face in his chest. "You'll start me…start me…"

From there it escalated. Liz's own arms wrapped around Vincent and the two held onto one another, crying out all the pain they had refused to share with the others. On that small bathroom floor they rejoiced and mourned in their reunion.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Aniki, Aniki, Aniki, Annnikiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!" Pupmon cheered as she bounced down corridors and along walls through the Trailmon carriages. With a final enthusiastic leap she slammed her small furry body into the rookie Digimon, nuzzling into his chest with a loud 'an-an-an-an-an-an' before exploding into a fresh cry of 'ANIKI!' and proceeding to bounce upon the spot, still chanting.

"Wow Luppy, is that you? You sure got small!" Komodomon beamed. The bundle of joy's sudden presence explained the scents that had been attached to the gold and pink blur which had stormed through.

"Not Looooooo-pi!" The doggy ball bounced onto the red dino-lizard-dragon-thing's head. "PUPPY!" She exclaimed proudly. "See! It says 'Pupmon' on my collar!" A slightly familiar pattern returned as she once again attempted to see the tag around her tail and began a race against herself atop Komodomon's head, before being extracted by said Digimon.

"I see it Pupmon." Komodomon smiled, his little subordinate's enthusiasm a wonderful change from his partner's recent brooding.

"Didja miss me Aniki? Huh? Huh? Didja?" Pupmon appealed, eyes big and round in her own excited rendition of the 'puppy dog eyes' routine.

"Of course I did!" Komodomon proclaimed, causing the fur ball to beam as he held her aloft. "You're my number one follower aint'cha!?"

"Hooray!" Pupmon cheered, bouncing up within the lizard's claws. "NUZZLES!" She proclaimed, diving once more to his head and beginning to vigorously rub her face into Komodomon's head in an excessively adorable display of affection, calling "Nu-nu-nu-nu-nu-nu-nu!" as she did.

"Pupmon! Pupmon where are you?" Tanya called, one hand tightly grasping BB's whilst cradling an irate looking Koromon in the crook of the other. Running into the next cabin, she pulled up short upon sighting her partner bouncing atop her Aniki's head. "Komodomon!"

"Well if it isn't my favourite n00b." Komodomon beamed. "What? No hug?"

Accepting the offer, Tanya temporarily released BB's hand to embrace the red lizard, Koromon still kept close, a whooping laugh of joy escaping her as she did so.

"I founds Aniki Tanya!" Pupmon continued to bounce. "I founds him!"

"May I be excused from the displays of affection please? Being a pink bunny ball is embarrassing enough." Koromon grumbled. "Hey what're you…" He began to exclaim as Komodomon pulled back, and plucked him from Tanya's grip.

"Ah c'mon. Family should be happy to be reunited, little brother." The red lizard grinned as the pink ball sagged and grumbled.

"Little brother?" BB asked his face tinting red as Tanya seized his hand again.

"Haven't I told you guys before? Me and little Koro-oro-oro-o here are sibs." Komodomon explained.

"Koro-oro-oro-o!" Pupmon sang.

"For the record I have never consented to this idea." Koromon deadpanned.

"Oh! So you're Koro-oro-oro-o's Aniki too?" Pupmon asked, the name making Koromon twitch.

"Ah…not quite." Komodomon's tone was sombre. "We were family like Liz and Richard were." A quiet settled in after these words, leaving Pupmon confused. "Ah, sorry for being such a bore. Vince's brooding's been rubbing off on me I guess. I want to hear what you two have been up to." Komodmon pulled the cheer back into the atmosphere. "Especially why you're dressed like…well…"

The red lizard proceeded to very obviously eye the young girl up and down. Humans weren't exactly his thing, but it was definitely fun to make Tanya flush red and watch as she grew embarrassed and tried to tug her skirt down further to hide her exposed legs.

"Ah-ah…well…" Tanya stuttered, missing the way that B.B was turning red as he too grew aware of the increased appeal that Tanya's outfit presented. "A lot's happened. Ah! Did you see Liz come through here?"

"Yah." Komodomon would have paled if his body allowed it. "She was pretty intent on finding Vince…She's probably chewin' him out right now."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"We should move." Vincent's words were the first spoken since they had stopped crying.

"Nuh." Liz grunted in response, squeezing him in refusal.

"Just a little. The toilet is digging into my back."

Relenting, Liz leaned back enough to allow Vincent to shuffle around on the floor so that his back was against the much less painful wall. With a small pine, Liz was gratified with the return of the pressure of Vincent's arms on her back.

"This is different…" Vincent's voice was quiet, almost reverant, as he picked at the skirt while his free hand gently stroked her hair.

"So's this." Liz scowled, running her fingers over his back, feeling the territory now claimed by rough scar tissue. "I think you've had a rougher time than us." Sitting up, she disentangled herself from her friend's legs.

"What are you doing?" Vincent asked as she began to push him forward.

"I want to see."

Uncomfortable, Vincent conceded and with a hand holding his towel in place he shifted to his knees, letting Liz at his back. The scar was something else he hadn't shared. He couldn't hide that he'd been hurt after the flames rushed across his back in the Honeybeemon hive, but he hadn't shown the mark it left to anyone. He shuddered as her fingers trailed over his marred flesh, tracing the shape it made upon his back. Was it really that big?

"How?" She asked, laying her palm flat on the wound.

"Fire-ball…from missiles…" The intimacy of the situation was beginning to reach him. "Was shielding B.B."

"I'm meant to be watching this back." She sighed, pulling him back into an embrace. "That's how it was meant to work right? You look after us and we watch your back!"

"Hey…You'll set me off again." Vincent pulled up a smile, taking a hold of Liz's shaking hands. "C'mon…we should get out there before everyone comes looking for us."

"Yeah…you're right." Liz confessed, reluctantly pulling herself away from her child-hood friend, their prolonged contact having left her mildly damp. "I don't know if Koromon will be able to endure Komdomon for much longer."

"Koromon?"

"We'll fill you in." A grin briefly flickered onto Liz's face.

"Ummm…You gonna…" Vincent gestured to his towel and drying torso.

Giving him a scrutinizing look, the grin managed to stay on Liz's face this time.

"Liz!"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Vincent was out cold for a few days after that…And we've been travelling on Trailmon ever since." Komodomon concluded. He felt that he had given the story of their journey thus far it's due recognition, gesticulation and every dramatic emphasis necessary. He had faltered a little when it came to relating Yasyamon's death, but he hoped he had given the warrior's bravery its due. BB had contributed details where appropriate, and did a good job of not over-inflating his role in events.

"So do you think they're still chasing you?" Tanya asked, Pupmon nestled in her lap. The little Digimon temporarily pacified by sandwiches Komodomon had fished out from the Kitchen's fridge.

"Definitely." Komodomon nodded. "As long as Kotemon is still alive and carrying Yasyamon's warning then they're going to come after us. Right now we're hoping that Trailmon can get us to Tsuyunoinochi before they can catch up to us again. If guy's got an army at his disposal I doubt we can fend off attackers forever. Fortunately, Gazimon says that we'll be there soon."

"There has been no sign of any pursuers since we departed Shanty." Bulletmon spoke up. "We have only two days of travel left, it's not an impossibility that we should arrive first."

"Still, a minute of battle seems like an eternity. And I doubt people who live based off of pride will be stopping for the night." Komodomon sighed. "Even now they might have overtaken us and the message is meaningless."

"So?" BB called out. "If they got there first we'll just fight them all off!" The forces of Pride were unquestionably the bad-guys in the young boy's mind.

"Kaiser…It is not that simple." Bulletmon interjected. "There is still a lot we do not know about the circumstance of this war. Entering into battle would be unwise, especially when there is nothing we can gain from it. Now that we are outside of the game world we have lost several of the key advantages provided to us, such as the stat modifier discs, Lieutenant Eight-Ball's hacking abilities, and even the protection of the Moderators we enjoyed prior to joining the Nightmare Soldiers."

Pain was cast over B.B's face. He was sure he had a grasp of what the right thing was, and to be reasoned out of it stung. The memory of the previous battles he'd seen still burned in his memory, often erupting into a nightmare as he slept, but as much as the terror they'd brought still followed him, the good superseded it. Weren't they meant to be the good guys and save people?

"The chances are a lot more of our members are headed towards Tsuyunoinochi. If anyone from NS should be in danger then that's reason enough for us to get involved. We're not known for leaving our men behind, and I won't start now."

Tanya couldn't help herself from calling out 'Cait' as the teenage boy walked through the door. His shirt wasn't done all the way up, and his damp hair was drying against his neck, but he held that same confident stance as when they had first met in the Fragment Desert, a great sense of 'I know what I'm doing.' It felt good to see it again.

"Someone sounds more like their adventurous self, Cait." Komodomon teased, craning his neck around to look at his partner in the door-way.

"Shoulda known he'd fall apart without me!" Liz beamed, throwing herself onto Vincent's back, locking her legs about his waist to support herself as the boy steadied himself against the doorframe. "He's probably just glad that the heat's off now that I've got his back."

The words were carefully chosen by Liz and the boy turned a tint of red, unable now to scold her for leaping onto him. And the reaction wasn't missed by Tanya, who felt a small twinge at the sight of it. Maybe Liz had been teasing her too much with the idea that she liked Cai-Vincent.

"I gots a sandymich." Pupmon beamed, having completely failed to grasp anything apart from her snack.

"Lupmon?" Vincent asked, staring at the petit Digimon whose squeaky voice was oddly familiar.

"PUPMON!" The in-training bounced, fuming and puffing up her cheeks thus giving herself an even greater resemblance to a furry balloon. "Lupmon is Pupmon now. Why no-one ever gets it right…?"

"Then…"

Noting that his eyes had roved to the other girl in pink, Liz dropped down from Vincent's back and made a show of clearing her throat.

"Ah-hem. That is correct. Vincent Reeves, may I introduce you to Tanya…Tanya…Uh…" Stumped, the blonde turned to the brunette. "Did you ever tell me your surname?"

"M-Mills." Tanya almost squeaked as she stood up. "Umm…I might be hard to recognise because the other me…my avatar that is she…um I…well…it had silver hair and no glasses and bigger um…that is…" Her efforts at gesticulation only furthered her embarrassment and it looked very likely that she was about to over-heat as she turned a deeper and deeper red.

Physical differences aside, it was very easy to recognise the flustered young girl as Dainya.

"Slow down Dai…Tanya." Vincent instructed. "You're going to hyperventilate."

Taking the advice, Tanya placed a hand upon her chest and struggled to reign in her breathing, only to scream and jump as a loud 'Yo-ho!' rang out from behind her.

"Found you!" Fugamon grinned, his lanky red form squeezing through the carriage door. "You guys are gonna miss your own party if you stay here."

"Party?" Liz stared at the Sheriff.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"They always find a reason." Gazimon nodded sagely, pint glass in paw. "I don't think I've ever stopped off in this town without having a party explode on me."

"I want my arms back…" Koromon responded, having not paid any real attention, as he glared at the abundant food and drink that was extremely difficult to consume without limbs of any kind.

Most all of the passengers had disembarked from Trailmon now and were engaged in the festivities. Originally Totemon had intended a small 'going-away' shindig for his four employees, which became a bigger shindig as planning went on and was now a full blown party, the mood bolstered by the reunion of his employees with their friends. Any thoughts of rest were dispelled as excitement flooded the small inn.

Komodomon, meanwhile, had turned himself into a grand centre of attention. With Pupmon in claw, he regaled the farmers with story after story of his adventures in both the online world and within the Digital World itself, complete with exaggerations of events, his role in them, and dramatic re-enactments. He currently had them enraptured in the so called 'false moon' adventure, and had stacked four chairs atop the other and balanced precariously atop the last as he continued to tell of the hazardous climb he and Vincent had faced.

"Sah."Ranamon interrupted from her seat. "Ah do declare that you are deliverin' to us a fabrication of the most fantastical variety." She asserted with good humour and a coy smile.

"My dearest Rana-Rana!" Komodomon did his best to look shocked and offended, clutching one claw over his heart. "You wound me to insinuate that I would be less than honest with my recollections! I swear that as I am red I seized that moon and pulled it from the sky with my own two claws!"

"Yeah!" Pupmon, currently playing the part of the moon, threw in. She had not entirely cought the good humour of the challenge. "Aniki is amaaaaaazin'! He can do anythin'!" She bounced enthusiastically, throwing off Komodomon's balance and causing the tower of chairs to wobble, the collected farmers roaring a big 'wooooooaaaaaaahhhh' as they waited to see if their guest would collapse, and were slightly disappointed as he managed to cling on and keep the tower stable, though they laughed and cheered none-the-less, particularly when he rose up to take a bow.

"You know Bulletmon. Yasyamon always told me that 'there's a time and a place for everything.'" Kotemon recalled the lectures of his teacher. A lot of responsibility sat upon the rookie's shoulders, now the sole bearer of the warning to Tsuyunoinochi, but he save for mourning for his teacher and leader he continued to handle matters with his usual energetic pride. "This is a party! We're supposed to put our cares to one side, relax and have fun for awhile! _Especially_ after all the places Gazimon was making us clean!" He almost shuddered at the thought.

"I fully understand that Kotemon, sir." Bulletmon responded. "But Mr Gazimon is always telling us that mess has no time and place. And I personally agree."

The green armoured Digimon was currently in the process of gathering up abandoned plates, mugs and bowels and looked to be about to set to cleaning up spills next. Kotemon could almost have tolerated this if it were not for the fact that even the inn's on duty waitresses were taking it easy and enjoying themselves, and that the gunslinger had also taken to wearing one of their frilly aprons.

"You…don't ever actually relax…do you?" Kotemon continued.

"Being Kaiser's partner has taught me to keep 'on my toes'." Kotemon didn't know if Bulletmon sounded proud or shell-shocked.

A loud cheering was centred about the kitchen. While many in the small town cooked, not many cooked very well, and so Totemmon was the unrivalled 'top chef' of the village. So upon finding out that Gazimon had employed a chef, however temporarily, the Digimon's natural to compete led to Totemmon more than readily accepting the idea of a cooking duel. Vincent had been somewhat more reluctant towards the idea until Liz confessed that she might have come to be of the opinion that Totemmon's cooking could be better than his…and Gazimon had ordered him (for the honour of the Trailway Lines). But the contest was in full swing and the latest row of judges were impatiently slamming their utensils down on the bar, chanting with a fever.

"Food! Food! Food! Food!" They roared.

"Next up Beta and Gazimon!" Liz called to the crowd of salivating Digmon. "Is a collection of cakey confectionary!"

There were cheers and cat-calls from the crowd, which the blonde knew very well had all to do with the cooking and nothing to do with her posing and outfit.

"From Vincent, representing the Trailway Lines…" BB paused in his own speech to check the note he'd jotted down after checking with Vincent. "A 'Chateau Gateau' made from gingerbrick, whipped creament and…" A moment was needed to scrutinise his own handwriting. The oddities of some food in the digital world didn't help. "…gravelberry jam?"

"And from our very own Totemomon," Liz flounced. "a fine triple tear bath sponge cake with soapberry jam and white tile chocolate!"

The two chefs proudly swung their creations through the air, the collected Digimon and humans sniffing at the air and all those who had tails added them to the rapid increase in their demanding thumps. Freshly baked cake was the best.

"Judges!" Liz called as the two cooks divided the cakes in front of the eager judges. "Start your munching!"

A happy cry went up from those able to grab a slice, Vincent and Totemmon looking on with pride. Leaning against the bar-top, Liz smiled at Tanya.

"Feeling better now?" She grinned.

"Yeah." The dark haired girl admitted. She was getting a bit tired in fact, but the party and the party-goers had that sort of hold on her that wouldn't let her slink off to bed.

"How do you feel about leaving now?" The blonde cocked an eyebrow.

"I…I don't know…I mean…" She cast her eyes to one side.

"Ah." Liz followed Tanya's line of sight. "_Now_ you're worried about Sephy as well."

"Ah…yeah…" Tanya confessed. "I mean, he's just a kid. He'd be safe here. _We'd_ be safe here."

"And could you be satisfied hiding here as a waitress?" Liz asked again.

"I used to be a store clerk. This is probably a step up." Tanya mused, dodging around the subject.

"I'm sorry." Liz sighed, squeezing Tanya's hand. "I guess I just don't want to leave you behind." Liz's grip tightened. "There's a lot more of this world I want to see, and even with the things we've encountered and the things Vincent's told me I want to go out there. And if there really is some manipulative force out there…I want to fight it." Liz's voice hardened. "Vincent's the same. He'll avoid saying it, trying to be responsible, but he hates seeing people suffer as much as I do. Komodomon's even worse."

"Are you trying to make me worry about you?"

"Sorry." Liz smiled. "I suppose I really just don't want to leave you behind." She admitted. "If I leave you and Lupmon here, I won't be able to protect you…to watch your backs…" Tanya saw the girl tense. That tension had been hovering around during their stay in the town and while meeting up with Vincent had seemed to dispel it, it also seemed to bring it closer to the surface.

"Liz…" Tanya breathed out, noticing that the girl was staring hard at Vincent's back. What had gone on between those two when they were alone? This small curiosity tugged at her heart as she wondered what it would be like to stay here, knowing that Liz, Augumon, Vincent and Komodomon were off facing danger, trying to find the other NS members and anyone else who was lost. That they could be dead or dying and she wouldn't know about it at all…wouldn't be able to help or protect them.

"MORE FOOD!!!" The 'judges' chorused, the latest offering having been devoured.

"Honestly, what happened to actually judging what we make?" Vincent sighed, giving Liz a tired smile which carried a good amount of 'help me.' Cooking was fun, but sleep was kind of essential. Unfortunately, before anyone could act three of Totemon's arms seized the cook, directing him towards the oven and stove while another gave him his knife.

"We'll decide the winner by whoever fills the most stomachs!" The totem chef happily pronounced. "Don't let your heart give out on me now!"

"Speaking of protecting people…" Liz straightened herself out. "I better go and see if I can help him escape."

Left alone, Tanya looked over at BB. Having heard him talk about his adventures thus far, she knew that the boy wouldn't settle for being made to stay at the small inn. Thinking about it, Lupmon probably wouldn't want to be separated from her 'aniki' again.

And she didn't want to be separated from everyone.

While her life had been in no danger in the game, everyone had gone to great lengths to protect Lupmon from harm. These people were her friends…she wanted them to be safe. Even if it was scary, she wanted to protect them as much as they did her.

A sudden explosion roared from the ovens and black smoke began to fill the inn, prompting many Digimon to swiftly push open more windows, even if only to dive out of to avoid the black cloud.

"Too much gunpowder." Totemon commented, his middle mouth tasting the remains of pastry that coated his body.

"Why do you even have gunpowder?" BB gawked, climbing out from under the counter he had swiftly improvised as a bomb-shelter. A surprisingly good humoured argument proceeded to burst out between him, Totemon and their crowd over the merits of gun-powder in a black pudding. Several party goers returning to the inn via the same windows they escaped through.

Liz, for her part, had swung herself in-between Vincent and the small-scale explosion. Her pink dress and yellow hair stained black with soot and burnt pastry, her heart rate coming down from the sudden shock the explosion had sent through it.

"You okay?" Vincent asked, looking down at her and touching her shoulder, fearing that in the very least she had been burnt.

"Yeah, you?" Liz pulled herself away.

"Fine…Thank you."

"I think this is your chance." Liz nodded at the debate hungry crowds, one of who was protesting that C4 was the best option for black pudding, but was gaining little advance due to it not being black and that using a dye was cheating.

Sadly the young cook's efforts to slink away were caught by Totemon's eagle face and he was promptly pulled back to his place before the remaining stove.

"Plenty more where that came from!" The eagle face cheered. "Let's give this black pudding another go!"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Grademon and Rapidmon had been destroyed. There was no shame to falling in battle, to unleash all of your strength and find those who were your betters, but Lucemon could not claim that these defeats were not a disturbance to him. To fall in battle was not shameful, but to mar the reputation of the Lord of Pride was. Grademon and the Rapidmon brothers represented _his_ forces, they represented _him!_ According to the report he had obtained from that pond-spawn agent of Yersinimon, the targets had again displayed that bizarre power that had thwarted Rapidmon at the Honeybeemon hive…the power to spontaneously Digivolve.

'Such a power…are they the work of Yersinimon?' He wondered. It would not be the first time that the enigmatic scientist used someone else's resources to test his little projects…or were they some experiment gone wild?

"I godda admit Lucy! Dis is some good grub!"

Looking over at the Lord of Gluttony Lucemon felt the slightest bit sick. Among other things, the angelic-demon prided himself upon his manners and the sight of Beelzemon devouring his meal, ripping meat from bone and slurping down goblets of wine and spraying mess in all direction…not to mention chewing with his mouth open, was quite disturbing.

"Must you eat like that?" Lucemon narrowed his eyes, making his distaste toward his fellow Demon Lord clear.

"Hey! It's called a 'mess' for a reason!" Beelzemon joked, winking his third eye before erupting in a belly aching laugh.

The mess hall of EXVEE was as divided as the rest of the ship. Nightmarish tapestries depicting brutal battles and scenes of gore and horror sat over pristine white wash walls engraved with angelic sigils and statues in loving embrace. None of the other soldiers currently dining in the hall laughed at Beelzemon's joke, the strict standards of their Lord drilled into them (along with the punishment one could receive for acting beneath them), yet they all seemed to give the Lord of Gluttony a wide berth, too afraid of upsetting the rather unpredictable Demon Lord.

Except for one.

"SIR! Your manner disgraces the hall of Lord Pride!" The armoured Digimon hollered, rising to stand only a few paces from Beelzemon.

"Oh?" Beelzemon let his eyes roam to the speaker, the third twitching around first. "Hmmm…I thought you Knightmon served Hope?"

"They do!" The hulking suit of armour responded. "But I saw the glory that lay within the Lord Pride's path and swore to follow him, taking his emblem onto my back!" Indeed, where the symbol of Hope rested upon the shields of most all Knightmon, this one now bore the sigil for the sun, the emblem of the Demon Lord of Pride. "And I will not stand by as you disgrace his Lord's presence!"

"Chill dude!" A Skullmeramon hissed, slightly ironic for a Digimon who resembled a towering Mad Max wasteland thug coated in blue flame.

"Heh…" Beelzemon picked up a fresh hunk of meat, stripped a large hunk of the flesh and tossed the bone and remaining flesh to the floor. "Sho whad?" He asked, mouth still full.

"Stay…" The next word had been intended to be 'cool', but Knightmon had already reached for his colossal blade, a double edged sword that was even taller than the already formidable armoured Digimon. But before he could even begin to fully draw his blade the twin barrels of Beelzemon's 'Double Impact' shotgun were filling the visor of his helmet.

No one had seen Beelzemon rise, the Demon Lord now standing jauntily beside the aggravated Ultimate, the Mega Level Digimon casually chewed and swallowed the meat in his mouth before speaking.

"Didn' anyone eva tell you? Children should be seen and not heard." The Demon Lord grinned, enjoying the infuriated rumble which sounded from within Knightmon's armour. Lucemon looked on, impassive. "Hey Lucy! If those weird Digimon have you in such a spin why not just _ask_ that old beak face Yersinimon what's goin' on? Might mean chowin' down on a bit of your pride first though eh?" Another belly aching laugh filled the room and the rumble from within Knightmon increased. Putting his gun away, the Lord of Gluttony snatched a stick of meat from Knightmon's plate and began to walk out of the mess. "Thanks for the snack! Later!" He waved, still chuckling at his own jokes.

Knightmon remained standing as all the eyes in the hall turned to their Lord who rose from his grand seat. Walking down by the mess tables each footstep could be heard in the silence that filled the normally noisy mess. With a vicious speed the Lord of Pride suddenly seized the heads of Knightmon and Skullmeramon and applied so much pressure to each that the sounds of crumpling metal could be heard from Knightmon's helm and Skullmeramon's face plate, the flames of the latter could not so much as singe Lucemon's glove.

"You know our ways, you win or die. Your departed comrades knew that well enough. The next time you challenge a Demon Lord swing your blade even if you know it will cost you your head!"

"Yes my Lord!" Knightmon croaked.

"And you." He turned one sharp, icy eye to Skullmeramon. "We never shy from confrontation like some soft baby level. Understood?"

"S'cool." Skullmeramon choked.

With a sharp movement Lucemon threw his subordinates to the ground and stalked from the Mess, not a soul speaking until the echoes of their wrathful Lord's footsteps had faded from the best of their hearing.

Upon the wall, a small fly like creature buzzed. It was not a Digimon, not the in traditional sense anyway. This small, barely noticeable creature took flight with a buzzing so gentle it could not be heard over the churning engines of the EXVEE and flew itself out of the mess, intent on following the Lord of Pride.

"Dis'd be a helluva better trick if they had better range." Beelzemon grumped from his temporary quarters, his third eye looking vacant as it channelled his 'fly's' vision.

"Oh it works fine." A female voice chided him. "And it's only to find out if he's calling this Yersinimon guy or not. Who is he anyway?"

"Damned if I know." Beelzemon responded, letting his other two eyes sink close so he could focus on the third. "Damned if anyone knows really. Just turned up awhile ago…crazy genius full of weird experiments. He's a handy fella though."

"Think he could be wrapped up in all this?" The female asked.

With a small chortle, Beelzemon pulled a bright red lollipop from a pouch on his waist before cramming it into his mouth and only just resisted the urge to crush it in one go.

"Wouldn' surprise me one bit babe."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"We'll miss you Lizmon!"

"Take care Koromon!"

"Eat well Pupmon!"

"Be brave Tanyamon!"

The staff of the inn shouted their farewells in-between nursing hangover headaches and blinking at the morning sunlight. Fugamon chortled at the display, a strong cup of some kind of coffee equivalent in one hand, the night before having apparently slowed him none-at all while all but one of Totemon's faces slept.

"Oy…I shouldn't have drunk so much last night." Gazimon moaned, Trailmon delivering a reprimanding 'chugga' as his conductor muttered a 'yeah, yeah' whilst prepping the train Digimon's engine. Leaning out driver's cabin he delivered a great blow on his whistle, and promptly regretted it as the noise pierced his ears and felt like someone detonated a pin-cushion in his brain. Trailmon's whooping 'choo' as he began to move didn't help either, and was probably intentional.

The carriages were all quiet as guests had partied themselves into exhaustion, choosing to sleep in cabins or chairs rather than do anything at all. In the dining car the otherworldly travellers and their companions sat slumped in the chairs and sofas, all energy to work evaporated as they tried to recover, sleep overtaking them fast. Komodomon's head lay upon one of the tables whilst Pupmon was curled up atop his brow. Ranamon had failed to make it back to her room and lay in a similar position opposite, arms pillowing her face. Bulletmon had managed to drape a small blanket over his partner before seeming to 'shut down' at the base of the couch the boy dozed on while Koromon had become a kind of snoozing centre-piece. Kotemon was propped up by his shinai, having been determined to remain strong against the weariness.

Seated on another couch, Liz felt the gentle rythm of Trailmon's movements affecting her, pulling her closer to sleep. Knowing that the gentle sway of the carriage would eventually over-power her, she lay a hand upon Tanya's, wanting to speak her piece before it was forgotten in dreams.

"Tanya…I'm really glad you came with us…And I promise I'll protect you okay…" Turning her head, she saw that her words were falling on deaf ears. Slumped, Tanya was in the land of nod, as was Vincent beside her. Realising she was the only one still awake the ghost of a devilish grin appeared on Liz's face and she began to gently lower the sleeping girl, placing her head in Vincent's lap. Hoping to be awake when the timid girl awoke to find herself in the rather…compromising position, Liz settled in on Vincent's other side, deciding to succumb to the sweet allure of sleep, her minor prank bringing a promise of good dreams. As her body became limp, she patted Tanya's hair with dozy affection and thought nothing of her head coming to rest on Vincent's shoulder.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

**Raven: **New schedule first update-ho! We're still around, and we still wanna finish this story! Even as I look forward and realize everything we still have to do…it's a daunting task to be sure, but hey, maybe Bandai or whatever company does Digimon will pick it up and say "Let's make this a show!" Then we'd be all rich and famous.

Daydreams aside, I noticed in our long list of apologies we didn't actually mention anything about Chapter 44 last update. And in case you haven't noticed, That was supposed to be the chapter we finished up our Ultimates. Don't worry, we DO have a plan, because we realized something. This is EIGHT BALL. A certifiable genius of his caliber needs no Ultimate! Of course, we still plan on giving him one, but at his level, we figured we would be better off showing his ability to work with what he has, instead of hoping in the next power boost.

You'll also notice the action has been slow lately. Don't worry, we got some kapow coming up. But for now, we need to finally assemble the team. Have you noticed that aside from Launch night, they've never been together? Impressive work, we are.

**Keyo:** We're actually still hopelessly off schedule, but that's largely my fault. I got myself into a lot of bother academically this year and now I'm paying for it. Word of advice to all readers. Don't slack off, don't get arrogant.

So another chapter dedicated to characters. I sometimes worry I don't do enough of this with the Digimon, but at their base their relationships tend to be a lot simpler (well, until the Ranamon thing bites some people in the ass.)

A lot of work went into the scenes with Liz and Vincent in the shower-room. Short as they were I'm really proud of them, I think they have a nice tender feeling to them.

I love doing the design work for the Exvee. Lucemon's light and dark theme is fun to play with, and I felt kinda bad that all of his noted minions were dead, I really felt that Knightmon and Skullmeramon kept in with the 'armoured' feel I keep giving his troops.

The next chapter has been started, but how long it will take to finish I give few promises on. Hopefully we'll be able to build to this new schedule, or another schedule…hopefully a faster one. Until next time.

**Rave & Keyo.**


	46. Chapter 46

**Keyo: **According to some the past is irrelevant compared to the present and future. I advocate this line of thought in regards to our absence. Notes at the end and the usual copyright smuck. Do I really have to say it on each chapter?

* * *

Feeling the weight and warmth upon his lap and against his shoulder Vincent did not react. The hum of dreams still played in his ears and for a few moments more he was at home with his little cousins curled in against him awaiting their Mother, quietly he chided himself for falling asleep along with them. Then he became aware of the rhythm of the train and his memories re-organised themselves. The Digimon, the battles, the re-union with his friends and that party which ran on far longer than it should have…it certainly was nice to relax for a night. No work, no fighting, no running…

But then his mind demanded that he explain this weight.

Opening his eyes he was first aware of Liz. Her blonde head nestled onto his shoulder, her hair parted in just the right way as to allow her drool to drop from her lip and straight onto his shirt without obstruction. The warmth in his lap, meanwhile, was apparently being caused by an even droolier Tanya.

"Uh…" He articulated, his mind rapidly going over events. Digital World. Battles. Reunion. Party…Digital World. Battles. Reunion. Party…He was very, very, very sure Tanya's head had not been there when he fell asleep! And why was Liz lying against him? "K-Komodomon?" He eeked out, turning his head very slowly as irrational terror dictated to him that waking the girls would be a bad idea.

"Mmmmraahhh…" Komodomon grumbled in response to his name.

"Komodomon stop sleeping and help me!" Vincent hissed, his body rigid.

"Amanuh…?" Komodomon further grumbled, his eyes slowly opening. Tragically this coincided with a fresh dollop of drool falling from the lips of the dozing Pupmon. Peacefully situated upon her aniki's head the dollop swiftly ran down his head and into his now exposed eye. The following reaction was quite understandable.

"BWAAAARGH!!" The lizard type yelled, bolting up-right and accidently hurling the small bundle of fur across the train and his yell caused all others in the train to bolt awake. In the case of Tanya this meant that her head shot up and slammed into Vincent's chin.

"Ah! Wha!? I…?" Tanya looked around, bewildered as to how she wound up sprawled over Vincent's lap.

"Y'know…this isn't quite the face I expected to see…" Liz sighed, poking her now semi-unconscious friend in the face.

"I'msorry!I'msosorrry!" Tanya burst, shaking Vincent with her face flushed a bright red, wide eyed with panic and confusion.

"Though that one is." Liz grinned.

* * *

Of Blood and Binary

Chapter 46:

* * *

"You're late, tch."

The Parallel Valleys resembled a kind of grand graphic glitch. They were a grand mountain range with spires reaching up beyond the clouds but with the unearthly aspect that there was a great gap through all of them. To be frank, it looked as if some giant had swung a sword and cleaved horizontally through the mountains, but the top parts had neglected to fall. It was in the shade provided by one of these levitating summits that Yersinimon sat waiting. To say he looked annoyed was a matter that could only be judged by his body language, given the whole 'bird face mask thing', as he sat upon a large rock arms folded and body hunched in that 'I'm not very pleased' sort of way.

With his own look of irritation Lucemon observed the entourage before him. Backing Yersinimon was his usual cluster of cloaked minions bearing the various cases which seemed to comprise his portable laboratory. There was also another figure who stood in the shade of a parasol, sharply dressed with a cog-like Hagurumon floating about him.

"You were the one who chose this out of the way meeting place." Lucemon returned. "I had to divert Exvee in order to pick you up. Now Tsuyunoinochi will be forewarned of our approach and forces!"

"It's your own fault." The parasol bearing man spoke up, grinning within his shade. "After all, you're the one who called us. 'Oh please, oh please great Yersinimon! The pitiful Lord of Pride can't understand the power of these Digimon with human partners!' We're the ones who have been inconvenienced."

"In-con-ven-ien-ced!" Hagurumon repeated cheerfully, its body rotating as the cogs ran against one another.

"And just who are they?" Lucemon turned a venomous eye upon the pair, using the sort of glare that let one sense the beast who rested within him. Hagurumon gave a small eep and hid behind the man.

"Tch. This is Cecil and Hagurumon…they have become my assistants of late. But more importantly Cecil is one of those humans you are so curious about."

Both Lucemon and Cecil knew that tone of voice from the scientist. If his face were visible it would probably be deck with a colossal grin as the thrill of superiority rushed over him. But neither reflected upon this idea as Cecil simply produced his Digivice, black bodied with white trim and allowed his body to be consumed in a thick black aura.

"Ultimate Evolution."

The light erupted from Cecil's body and a matching glow consumed Hagurumon, who began to spin his cog body rapidly as the power flowed into him, becoming a black tornado.

"Hag-u-ru-mon. Digi-volve-to…" The Digimon sang in his child-like tone. "An-Dro-Mon."

The force created as the 'black tornado' dissipated was enough to cause all present to brace themselves, even Lucemon found a need to dig his heels into the ground as the excess energy washed over him. In place of the small rookie there stood a tall Ultimate Digimon who stood on par with the Lord of Pride himself. Humanoid and covered in blocky silver armour, the gauntlets of which were massive, Andromon invoked more of the idea of a 'cyborg' in his appearance, bits of wrinkled flesh poking out where the armour failed to cover and quietly radiating strength and power.

"And as for your concerns about Tsuyunoinoichi being prepared for your arrival, I had the foresight to send one of our minions ahead to negate their advantage."

"So the question is…tch…Lord of Pride…what is it you wish to know about this power of evolution?" Yersinimon rose as Lucemon gazed in wonder at the results of the flash.

"Everything." The Pride lord responded, a cruel grin of ambition alighting upon his face.

* * *

"I can't believe you did that." Tanya's face was still flushed as she donned the uniform Gazimon had issued her with, using the small staff cabin as a dressing room.

"Well, Vincent made a good point. If we work on the train as well we get to save our ticket fare, expanding our resources. Though I swear he just wanted us wearing his spare clothes and these hats." Liz returned, contemplating how the body of the shirt was too tight, yet the sleeves were too long. It was an odd combination of the risqué and the childishly cute.

"I wasn't talking about the jobs! I know you went and put me on his lap last night!" Tanya fumed, adjusting the strap which would keep the jaunty little hat upon her head.

"Meeeee? Do something like that?" Tanya said, not even really trying to get her feigned innocence to sound genuine.

"Yes you did!" Tanya protested. "And you made me look silly…and I've never been so embarrassed…" Going into a kind of embarrassment melt down, Tanya hid her reddening face in her hands.

"Tanya! I'mma stuck!" Pupmon cried out. In her efforts to don the only part of the uniform that fit her, the jaunty fez-like cap, she had wound up rolling onto the hat's flat top, leaving her upside down.

"Oh Puppy!" Tanya exclaimed, dropping down to help her partner out of the hat.

"I misses my arms." Pupmon sighed as Tanya picked her up. "Can I be Lupmon again?"

"I second that." Koromon joined in. "I have no desire to be stuck require lifts to higher places or for it to be so easy to force ridiculous hats upon me." The pink bunny-ball looked disgruntled in his little red hat.

"D'aaaaaaw! But you are so kewt!" Liz beamed in her best mocking cute voice, snatching up her partner and cuddling him in caricature of Tanya's affection for Pupmon.

"Gah! Cut it out! Cut it out! Or so help me I will give you a tongue bath as you sleep!"

"Duuuude. You are so lucky that Eight Ball did not hear you say that." Komodomon grinned his alligator smile. "He would have innuendos from here to the Eniac Ruins by now."

"I also want to be able to throttle you." Koromon glared at the red lizard.

"Komodomon! We're changing in here!" Tanya exclaimed.

"Bah. As if I've even got an interest in naked humans." Komodomon scoffed, withholding the fact that he did have an interest when certain screenshots netted him a nice little payment from Eight.

"Aniki! I has a hat" Pupmon beamed. "But I am missing my armsies and my legsies." She tried to wiggle the non-existent appendages.

"Well, I think we can help with that." Vincent's voice came from around the back of the door. "Um…provided you're both properly dressed of course…that is…"

Whilst Tanya smiled in appreciation of someone around her having some tact and manners, Liz broke into a devilish smile. Placing Koromon on Komodomon's head she gently pushed against the door, enough to let Vincent know she was there and proceeded to roll out her best sultry voice.

"Oh Vinny…why so prudish…after how little I saw you in last night don't you want to get a…similar view." She could feel his weight shift away from the door slightly, letting her know she'd made him nervous.

"Liz! Cut that out!" Tanya called, her face bright red and one hand firmly clamping down on Pupmon's ears.

"Ohhh…You're not fun sometimes Tanya." Liz pouted in her friend's direction. "It's clear to come in, we're decent." Liz called, stepping back from the door.

"Honestly…" Vincent sighed, keeping his face low until his own blush died down, only to jerk up as he found his eyes staring down at Liz's straining top.

"My, my. Seems you really do want a little quid pro quo." Liz grinned.

"Liz!" Tanya chided again, flushing deeper.

"Poo." Liz grumped, picking up Koromon and holding him to her chest.

"Happy now?"

"I am not a censor bar!"

"Ah…yes…um…" Vincent's eyes darted to Tanya first, but despite her appearance and mannerisms being far more homely, Liz had agitated him in just the right way that she was not a safe sight for his eyes. Besides, he was far too aware that the outfit she was wearing was his, and the baggy clothing was only fuelling his imagination. So with looking at Komodomon being simply rude when he was addressing the girls, he settled for being generally unfocused and looked at a wall. "Because there are a lot of us now it'll be really quick to get the train cleaned, so when we get our first break we'll show you how to deliberately create…well…cause Digivolution."

"Psh? You mean the Digisoul thing?" Liz scoffed. "I already know that y'gotta punch someone to do it!" She demonstrated by thumping Komodomon in the arm, nearly bowling the lizard over with the strike.

"Yeow!"

"Hey…it's not glowing…"

"What was that for!" Komodomon rebuked.

"I was just showing that I can get the digisoul working!" Liz glowered.

"Vincent and BB have never had to punch anyone to get us to Digivolve!"

"Well me and Tanya did!"

"Umm…Liz…I never punched anybody…" Tanya tentatively interrupted, jumping back a little when Liz suddenly whipped around to face her. "You didn't? Awww man…and here I thought you'd actually gone and smacked Togemon in the head!"

"Don't you mean Digitamamon?" Koromon looked up.

"Liz…are you sure that you're an 'A' student?" Vincent nursed his fore-head.

"Me likey thump things." Liz said in her best cave-woman voice.

"Um yeah…so…I better get back to the kitchen, I left BB in charge and he might try use the cooker again."

With a slight level of nervousness, Vincent backed out of the door, careful not to look anywhere he felt he shouldn't, and briefly returned to pull Komodomon away.

"Well, that was a nice pre-work distraction." Liz smiled cheerily.

"Liz…what do you mean that you saw Vincent 'in less last night'?" Tanya asked, looking nervous in a way that left Liz surprised the brunette had been able to string her words together properly.

So naturally she just smiled that great, big, predatory grin of hers.

"Liz!"

* * *

Long sleeves flapping in the wind, Kotemon stood alone atop Trailmon, expertly keeping his balance as he stared off into the distance. They would arrive at Tsuyunoinchi soon, they were already passing through the Labyrinth Forest , and he would deliver his warning and all the information that the Sharp company had died to preserve. All except him.

"Sensei…" He lamented aloud, letting the word be lost in the roar of Trailmon's engines.

How had it come to this? How was he the only member of the Sharp Company left? He was only a rookie level Digimon, aide and student to Captain Yasyamon. He was skilled, but he wasn't a frontline warrior, and whilst their journey since leaving Shanty had been peaceful, he was more than aware of how little impact he could have upon any new danger that appeared.

'Lord Pride doesn't bother with units like Lord Sincerity, his entire offensive forces seems to be a collection of Ultimate Level warriors. Because of that, our defence may be entirely reliant upon Lord Sincerity himself.' He shuddered at the thought of the hell his home was likely to become. 'Even if all I can do is deliver this message, I must see it through so that Sensei didn't die in vain.'

The kendo armour clad Digimon began to chide himself as his shuddering failed to stop. He had managed to keep himself together until this point, he wasn't going to break down and cry now.

Then he realised that there were no tears forming in his eyes, and that his feelings of sadness were definitely not about to overcome him. As a great shadow passed over him, he looked up, spotting the long shape in the sky. With a snake like body and great bat like wings, Kotemon felt sure for a moment it was just an Airdramon, but the aura it was giving off told him otherwise. His realised his reservations were about to be justified as the creature began to dive down.

* * *

"Oooooooooh." Ranamon moaned, ice pack on her head as she lay in the bed of her small cabin. She had definitely wound up drinking too much last night at the party. She remembered having her flagon refilled several times as she sat listening to all of Komodomon's stories, dancing a few times…drinking some more…how much _had_ she drunk?

'At least mah friends carried me…'

Friends.

She _had_ to stop thinking like that. She wasn't meant to be making friends! She was a spy! An information hunter! A mole! She was here so that Yersinimon could track the movement of this little group, so that information could be sold on to Lucemon so he could hunt down and crush the messengers racing for Tsuyunoinoichi.

'Ah know this is all so that our plan can be carried out…but Ah feel more and more like the bad guy here.' She lamented. 'But a little thang like me ain't good for much more than lyin' an' spyin'…'

That was something though. Was this really the way to build the new world? She didn't feel like a revolutionary working to bring peace, she just felt like a spy. A spy who was spying on good people.

'Ah'll talk to Yersinimon 'bout all this.' She decided. 'Get this all straightened out.'

Sitting up, she paused as the world seemed to swim around her.

'Ah really did have too much to drink last night…' She lamented as a sick feeling welled up in her stomach. 'And Ah'm startin' to shuddah…' She looked at her shaking hand. Her eyes widened, however, when she came to realise the sick feeling in her stomach had little to do with her shuddering.

"What in tarnation?"

A terrible hawk like screech suddenly filled the air, rattling the windows before an explosion rocked the entire carriage throwing the hung over Digimon to the ground. Screaming, she clutched at her head, the explosion sounding so much louder in her recovering mind.

"Wha…what is…" She gasped on the ground as the dreadful feeling that made her shudder increased in intensity. "Wait…this feelin'…I know this! But why would Yersinimon send XIII?"

* * *

"Broohahahahaha! Don't run! Don't Run! I just wanna squash you! Brooohahahahaha!"

With his glowing yellow eyes fixed upon the great white tentacle currently thrashing through the cabin, Kotemon kept his arms about the rooms Salamon occupant, using one arm to muffle the doggy-kitty Digimon's initial efforts to scream and remaining in place just in case she decided to start up again.

'Crap…What the hell is this…one moment it was an Airdramon, the next it was a Gesomon! I know that Komodomon and Bulletmon can quickly change forms, but they only ever progress upward. Aidramon and Gesomon are the same level. Is there some power to Pride's forces we don't know about?'

The great white Gesomon squid tentacle suddenly ceased thrashing and began a more methodical sweep of the room. Running over every surface it slowly narrowed down the space anyone could hide, all the while blocking the door leaving escape impossible.

'Crap!' Kotemon's eyes widened glancing briefly to Salamon who was now gazing up at him clearly afraid and hoping he could help. 'I'm not sure I can fight that thing, I've only just gotten used to that strange pressure it gives off and there's no way I can do anything with this Salamon here.'

Slowly the tentacle drew closer, its great arrow like running over every surface with the suckers making a grating noise. Briefly it paused on a bedside table and in a flash moment of suspicion crushed it, splinters flying over to the feet of the concealed Digimon before slowly sliding in their direction.

'Damnit! I'm a samurai, not a ninja! I'm not meant to hide like this!'

It was getting closer and the Salamon's shaking was getting worse. It seemed as though fear and the dark pressure this being exerted were stacking up on her.

'Damnit! Sensei, what do I…'

'I don't have much time!' Kotemon.

"EVO PUNCH!!!"

A bright orange glow flashed behind XIII as the beast cried out. The force of the impact sent its squid like body crashing down the carriage-way leaving Kotemon, Salamon and Ranamon wide-eyed in surprise and shock.

"Boo-yeah! I told you that it worked!" Liz cheered, fist still outstretched with the bright orange flame burning about it.

"Huh. Whaddya know." Komodomon nodded sagely. "I guess you're just the regular kind of crazy and not the delusional kind."

"Oh ha ha." Liz glared at her red companion. "Y'know, I could have convinced him a lot faster if you had backed me up Koro-oro!" Liz's eyes moved up to the pink blob sitting on the red lizard's head.

"Consider it revenge for this Koro-Oro nonsense." The blob bunny grinned wickedly. "Now, how about we put this nonsense behind us and you use that light to get me some legs and fire power!"

"Somone's gotten all aggressive." Liz chided playfully.

"You trained me up for PvP combat. I'm built from the core of my stats to fight. Being stuck in this body serving drinks has been humiliating!" Koromon ranted.

"Fine, go have your fun Emo-boy." Liz winked, unclipping her Digivice.

"No wait!" Komodomon tried to stop her, but was too late.

"DIGVOLUTION!" Liz cried, sending her flames down into the device, causing the same light to burst around Koromon, who Komodomon hastily lobbed from his head.

"We're still inside!" He cried as his pink 'brother' flew towards the recovering squid-beast.

"Koromon Double Digivolve to…GEOGREYMON!" With his voice switching from as snarky as a bubbly child voice can get to the deep roar of a beast GeoGreymon relished in the sensation of power flowing through his limbs. This was swiftly followed by wincing as said limbs expanded to crash through the walls of the various cabins and his head crashed through the ceiling causing him to stumble and become somewhat trapped in the carriage.

"Oh boy are we dead." Liz paled looking at the wreckage she had unintionally caused. With the appearance of the giant dinosaur the passangers who had the space to escape took it, fleeing from the carriage. Letting Salamon join those who were rushing past their 'saviours' Kotemon moved to join his companions.

"We?" Komodomon looked incredulous. "I think you mean '_I_'. As in '_you_'. As in, '_ the girl for whom no amount of fanservice will cover the repair bill_.'"

"Maybe we can blame it on the Gesomon?" Liz proposed.

"It's not a Gesomon." Kotemon interrupted. "It was initially an Airdramon, then it transformed."

"All the more reason to beat it down fast!" Liz proclaimed. "Komodomon, you try and distract it so that GeoGreymon can prep a Mega Shot to wipe him out!"

"No-way! There are still people on this car!" Komodomon hastily reminded the girl before she could make another rash move.

"Oh yeah." Liz came dangerously close to pouting.

"Well I'm glad to see that someone is thinking." Vincent's voice cut through the noise as he forced his way past the escaping digimon, BB, Bulletmon and Tanya with Pupmon in her arms following along.

"Hey there partner. I totally tried to stop her but she wouldn't listen."

"Traitor."

"Can you argue later! A little help would be nice!" GeoGreymon roared, struggling to keep his balance as he did his best to keep XIII pinned. The monster was still in its Gesomon body and was taking advantage of the manoeuvrability it offered to try and slip past the dinosaur, leading to an intense, if bizarre, grappling match.

"Okay…we need to get everyone trapped out of here so that GeoGreymon can fight without causing casualties." Vincent bit at his thumb, working to suppress the panic in his belly. Some of the trapped digimon were starting to scream and panic now, banging on the walls of their cabins, desperate to be let out.

"Lupmon, Komodomon! I need you to bust through the cabin walls and give everyone an escape route!" Vincent commanded.

"Gotcha!"

"I'mma still Pupmon…" The doggy ball lamented.

"I'll do it." Kotemon stepped up, taking a firm grip of his shinai. "Regardless of whether or not this creature has come for me, I have a duty as one of the Sharp Company to protect those in danger."

"Hey! What about Bulletmon!" BB protested, pointing to the green gunner, insulted that his partner should be left out of the operation.

"Don't worry, I've got a special job for him." Vincent's 'Cait' grin grew on his face.

* * *

'Okay Rana, don't panic. That lumberin' brute hasn't spotted you yet. Now, as long you can keep him from blowin' your cover or blowin' you away things'll be just peachy.'

It wasn't much of a plan but it was all Ranamon had as she quaked on her bed, the remains of the ice-pack still pressed against her skull. She knew that the lumbering beast (who was doing her hang-over no favours) was on her side, but as the crushing, writhing mass of tentacles and horror crashed down and tore her door from her hinges she couldn't help but cower in fear of him. She kept trying to reassure herself that things would be fine, that her biggest concern was having her cover blown, but panic was developing a stronger and stronger grip on her. Other Digimon were screaming in panic now desperate to be freed from their rooms as the two Champion digimon collided. Nightmarish scenes all too familiar started flashing in Ranamon's mind as the past and the present blurred and her grip on rational thought began to give way. As one of the giant Gesomon tentacles smashed into the room her efforts to keep calm broke down completely and to her own shame she screamed. Doubling up, hands on her head she became trapped in the past and screamed in fear and horror. Screwing up her eyes she just wanted it to end!

"RANA-RANA!"

Her eyes snapping open she found herself staring into Komodomon's face and on an instinct threw her arms about him and clutched him tight. This was the present. She wasn't alone.

She realised she was trembling and crying. Komodomon was trying to get her to walk towards the hole he had blown in the wall of her cabin but her legs weren't responding.

"You okay Rana-Rana?" Komodomon asked gently, keeping her steady.

"Ah'm fine." She nodded, pulling her body back under control. She could sort her feelings out later, not being here was the important thing right now. Stepping back, now fully composed, she turned towards the hole, realising Komodomon wasn't following.

"What are you doing Komo?"

"We gotta makes sure this guy doesn't hurt any of the other passengers. Me and Kotemon are evacuating all the passengers, you're my last." He winked at this. "Once everyone's clear we're blasting this guy off the train. If that doesn't dissuade him me and GeoGreymon will be able to take him on without endangering the other passengers. Don't you worry Rana-Rana, we'll keep everyone safe."

Ranamon gaped for a few moments. Words tried to form on her mouth but in the end she could summon nothing and simply turned and ran through the tunnel the dragon-like Digimon had burned through the cabin walls. Misinterpreting the frog-girl's silence as being stunned as his awesomeness Komodomon cocked a grin and crouched. Whatever was up with this Gesomon it didn't seem to be any stronger than a Champion level could be since GeoGreymon was keeping him back despite the special restrictions, Drakemon would be more than enough to beat the monstrous squid into submission.

* * *

"What are you doing?"

"What's going on?"

"Why's there a Gesomon?"

"Aren't you that guy who was scrubbing the sceptic tank?"

"I am sorry…everyone. Could you please…I…Ah…" In all honesty Bulletmon was doing his best to respond to the questions of the Digimon in the final carriage but he had a hard enough time keeping up with his beloved partner let alone a carriage full of angry, scared and inquisitive Digimon. As XIII and GeoGreymon were brawling it out in the second last carriage it was the final carriage of the Trailmon which prevented GeoGreymon from launching any of his flame breath attacks, and from trying to hurl the beast down the track.

And so it was Bulletmon was given marching orders to climb around the train so he could be ready to blast their mysterious enemy as soon as Komodomon evolved, so that they could keep him from falling backward. And should all else fail it would be his job to separate the rear car and keep it protected until the fight was over and it could be recovered.

'I do sometimes wish that Kaiser was not so enthusiastic about our active participation in these events.'

A bright red glow suddenly broke through one side of the train just as a green one began to surround Bulletmon himself. Accepting his partner's energy into his body Bulletmon felt the words associated with the transformation spilling out, the great programme of evolution running through his body. He couldn't hear Komodomon, but his own words resounded loud and clear.

"Bulletmon digivolve to…DESPERAMON!"

"IMPACT CLAW!" The red dragon within the train boomed, his arm lancing out with all the force he could provide. There was a horrid gurgling kind of scream as the attack connected and the squid like creature was suddenly blasted out the other side of the train, his tentacles still gripping the carriage letting him hang in the air for a long enough moment for a kind of terror to materialise upon its face as GeoGreymon's jaws filled with flame and Desperamon levelled his colossal gun barrel at him.

"Mega Shot!"

"Star Revolver!"

The burning lance flew out along side the glowing bullets, slamming into the squid with the requisite force to blast the creature a good few feet away and watching with grim satisfaction at the sound of splintering wood as the invader was forcefully hurled into the surrounding trees.

"Boo yeah!" Drakemon roared, fanning his wings out and pumping his fist into the air.

"He's getting back up." GeoGreymon droned.

"Oh." Drakemon's arm lowered slightly.

"And he's turning into a Trailmon." The fire breathing Dino continued to observe.

"Told you he could do that." Kotemon joined in.

"He's still got that screwed up face. But whatever sort of Trailmon he is has a pair of giant buzz saws."

"We noticed." Kotemon nodded as large bits of tree flew in the air, sliced down by the horizontal blade whilst the vertical one was levelled at them.

"You're a real buzz kill, you know that bro?" Drakemon sniped at his 'sibling'.

"We all have our little joys." The Dino shrugged.

"Oh well. It's not like I expected this to be easy." The Dragon grinned, cracking the muscles in his neck and lacing his fingers together to give his knuckles a similar satisfying noise.

"Vincent! Liz! Pupmon!"

It was more an instinct born of adrenaline that caused Tanya to cry out to her comrades. With a slight stumble Tanya came to a halt before the others

"Ummm…Gazimon wanted to know what the noises were but umm…" Tanya's jaw flapped as she struggled to get her mind back in order as she took in the spectacle. She knew that she should be more used to the madness the digital world brought, but she hadn't quite prepared for a dinosaur on a train. It was with numb arms that she accepted Pupmon back into her arms from Vincent.

"You can tell him we're handling it?" Liz suggested, looking to Vincent for more input and receiving only a shrug to match her own.

"He ah…also said that we just got a lot heavier…but I can see why." Tanya's gaze hadn't dropped from GeoGreymon. It didn't really matter how many times she saw her friend's champion form she just could not quite get over the fact that she was staring up at, well, a giant fire breathing digital dinosaur. Greymon was symbolic of Digimon as a whole and whilst GeoGreymon was not the exact version that had enthralled fans in the game's first animated outing it was still very much the beast of dreams. His presence right now, however, was not the stuff of dreams.

"Weight? You mean we're slowing down?" Vincent's eyes widened before he himself looked up at the great dinosaur looking to his own partner as well, the consequence of their presence dawning on him. "Crap, crap, crap! We're slowing Trailmon down!" Liz's commentary of the realization was a lot less polite.

"Geo! You better devolve right now!" Liz called. "Damnit! Is there a back button on this thing?" She grumbled as she twisted her Digivice around.

"Doesn't solve our big problem." GeoGreymon shook his head, the buzzing of the giant saw getting more and more audible. "I have a better idea."

With a surprising level of grace, surprising in that he didn't take the remains of the carriage with him, GeoGreymon took a backwards jump from the carriage. Managing to avoid slamming into the trees the orange dinosaur crouched, summoning all the strength he could into his thick, powerful legs. With a roar that surpassed XIII's engines and saws in volume he leapt at the mechanical beast, checking the lethal locomotive and causing it to fall from the tracks, trees falling and dirt spraying into the air as the saw blades hacked at everything near to them before in a sudden flash XIII's form changed again, becoming now a Tyrannomon. With it's new, red dinosaur like body it roared, its face the same twisted visage that had existed on the previous forms, and began to wrestle with GeoGreymon. Teeth, claws and flame breath were all used as the similar monsters matched one another with all the strength they possessed.

"Ha! As if that raddish-tyranno can match GeoGreymon!" Liz whooped, fist pumping in the air.

A panicked beeping suddenly arrested everyone's attention, calling it to Liz's Digivice. In bold red font the words 'PROX ALERT' were displayed, the edges of the words flashing to draw as much attention as possible.

"Proximity?" Liz looked bemused for a moment, and her comprehension was beaten out only by the brilliant flash of orange light that was getting further and further from them by the moment.

'Connection Lost.' The digivice reported to Liz as Agumon suddenly found himself significantly shorter than he had been moments before and that the battle was suddenly a lot more one sided.

"AGUMON!" Liz found herself screaming, the realization that by stopping XIII her partner had essentially trapped and doomed himself.

"DRAKEMON!" Vincent roared, desperation in his voice as the unspoken plan passed between him and his own partner. "Tanya! BB! Take care of everyone!"

Wings spreading wide Drakemon took flight through the very nonexistent roof of the carriage, blowing debris and about as he did so. Pupmon gazed up in their wake, her eyes wide with a child's confusion and incomprehension.

"But…we only just got alls back together…" She spoke to all, and to none.

* * *

When she had first come to this world, torn from the reality that had been her home she had been dropped into the dark and the cold. But now all was warmth and care.

No, not quite. So many of their friends were missing and in danger, many others were struggling with the changes wrought upon this world, fearing for how long they could create a masquerade of the status quo…of how deep the changes ran.

But in moments like this it was hard to think that way. She had thought that it was likely to be the fault of her current body, her in-training state had a lot less 'memory' than her higher forms. The Brigadier-General had proposed an alternate theory, but it was not one that she could dwell on without feeling fuzzier than her own body.

"Are you feeling okay Brigadier?" Jan asked as the yellow ball in his lap gave essentially the canine equivalent of a purr. "You've been quiet for awhile now."

"Hmmm…I'm fine General…" She responded, too cosy to worry about how she was responding to the way the young boy was petting her.

Fate. That was a word that she'd heard a lot in the game world. That and destiny, the idea that certain things are meant to happen. It was what a lot of NS members had thought about their partnerships, that it was destiny stepping in and deciding that they should be together. She had entertained the idea that she had a similar bond to the man…no…the boy who had been the leader of the Nightmare Soldiers, that their paths were destined to be crossed and to be forever intertwined from then on. When the game world died and she wound up in the real one she had been alone for the first time since meeting Jan, her General. Alone, cold, wet and scarred just as she had been once before and Jan had found her again, given her the warmth she needed.

"Has anyone come on yet?" She asked lazily. The sunlight that was pouring through the window was so nice, and Jan's lap was so warm that she was struggling to be anything but, it was even making it hard to miss her more disciplined body.

"No." Jan sighed, tapping dejectedly at the keyboard. His parents had written off his isolation as a response to his friends being among those who had mysteriously disappeared. He had not found the courage, or the words, to explain his role in events. Some nights when he could not sleep he was sure it was guilt, that he was blaming himself for this mess, unwilling to tell his family…to tell anyone of his role in the disappearances, or to admit to the allies he had left that he was just a 10 year old boy. But he still had Viximon and DemiDevimon, his Brigadier and Brigadier-General. He was not alone, and he could fix this. No doubt they, no matter where they were, were working to solve it aswell. Vincent, Liz, Richard, Komodomon and the Agumons, surely they would all find their way home soon. Richard and his partner would tease him for worrying so much and carry on as if nothing had changed, Liz and Komodomon would regale him with their adventures while Vincent would join him in being too relieved to pay proper attention and Agumon would act like he didn't care.

Getting everything back to normal. That was what mattered.

Hearing his partner snore from the sunny patch on his bed and feeling Viximon nuzzle in closer as she dosed off Jan found a smile on his face.

Things wouldn't go back to normal. They would be better than normal. He had to keep believing that, that soon they'd all be back together again.

* * *

"I've gotta give the guy points. He's not a bad strategist." Drakemon had to shout over the sound of bullets and cannon fire to be heard.

"Tankmon was a good body to chose. A lot of ranged power to keep us back, especially since one of us needs to actually punch the _enemy_ to get their digivolutions to work." Vincent gave Liz a hard look.

"I'm said I'm sorry. Geeze, it's not like this is the first time I've bruised your ribs." The blonde pouted.

"So about this Tankmon." Agumon brought the discussion back to point, joining everyone in wincing as a tank shell landed far too close to their little improvised dug out for comfort.

"We've no choice. We'll have to get Drakemon to evolve into Ultimate. I don't know if we can avoid killing him with that kind of power but…"

"I'll be careful! Now can we please stop being sitting ducks and kick some tail?" Drakemon roared, hiding having pushed him towards his breaking point.

"Okay, okay. Don't rush me." Vincent waved at him. Taking in a deep breath he searched for that fire that had burned so brightly after Yasyamon's death. Pulling back that feeling, fanning that flame, grasping it. He pulled the fire outward and his body took on the bright red glow, his digivice shimmering in response.

"Ultima-"

A defeaning roar cut in and the group found themselves blasted out from their hiding hole as a long strip of the forest was suddenly rooted by what someone with more musical inclination might say was a G.

* * *

The entire of Trailmon was in an uproar. Gazimon had given up on trying to be heard and only gave the semblance of responding to the enraged passengers having realised they were more concerned with their complaints than any answers he could actually give. He knew that Trailmon would be taking the whole thing better, and it was his carriage that had been blown up.

"I hope Vincent and the others are alright." Tanya worried as she sat, knees up to her chest as she sat in one of the dining car chairs.

"Aniki will be okay. Aniki is tough and strong and the bestest." Pupmon asserted with perfect faith, bouncing on the table and drawing a smile from her partner. "And Liziziz and Korororo are super tough too!"

"Don't worry Tanya. Vincent and the rest are way stronger than that thing. I mean…it could only become Champions right? Now that they won't hurt anyone else I bet ClayDrakemon is already whooping that thing!" BB said in his best 'pep talk' voice, or rather, his first pep-talk voice.

"I'm surprised you didn't try and go with them." Tanya confessed, pulling Pupmon into her arms, causing the bundle of fur to snuggle in.

"Vincent told me to stay here. So I've gotta stay and make sure everyone's safe." BB asserted a little defensively, looking away from the girl to avoid letting his focus be too obvious.

"You're surprising me BB…It seems you've really grown up since I saw you last. I haven't changed at all."

"Tanya…" BB pulled his face back to his friend and babysitter, noticing how she was shaking.

"I'm still weak…I'm still scared…I was never of much use for anything back home…the Digital World was an escape…a fantasy…and now that it's the real world too I'm just as useless."

"Tanya…don't cry Tanya…" Pupmon gazed up at her partner, bumping her small body against her in an effort to hug in the absence of limbs. "Everyone will be okay Tanya."

"Tanya…everything…everyone will be alright." BB tried to reassure, taking a step towards the sobbing girl but faltering, unsure on how to comfort her. "And I think you're pretty awesome…" He said mostly to himself.

Within one of the Trailmon's toilets Ranamon was struggling to get her own shaking under control. Splashing water on her face fear and confusion had driven the pain of the hang-over from her mind. With another splash from the full basin she looked in the mirror before her, a thousand thoughts rattling through her head as questions she did not want sprang up again and again. The effect on her mood was noticeable in the way she snapped at whoever banged at the locked door.

"I'LL BE OUT WHEN I'M DONE!" She screeched, before sighing and dropping her head to rest on the mirror.

Why had they sent XIII? Why were they playing games with the Pride Lord? Why was she starting to question her place in all this.

"Ranamon, chk." A voice suddenly hissed, a face forming in the water and causing Ranamon's eyes to widen in a kind of fear, a dread clinging to her. She didn't want to deal with Yersinimon, not know. "I have a very important job for you, chk."

She could see where this was going. Could anticipate what he wanted her to do. If Digimon had hearts hers had stopped.

"Final stop. Tsuyunoinochi. All passangers please disembark." Gazimon's weary voice came over Trailmon's internal speakers. "Once again, final stop. Tsuyunoinochi. All passangers prepare to disembark."

* * *

**Raven: **Happy single Holdiay! May whichever one you're celebrating bring you all the gifts you wanted!

What's that? The holiday season is over? But it's not 2010 yet, that can't be right!

This is possibly the biggest lull in the story so far, and Keyo was genius enough to come up with a fight to entertain you all during this home stretch to the central hub. We could have kept going, but it's been a few months, and we wanted to give you guys a New Years present, and this break just lets us know what to start the next chapter with…so yeah, we got a new chapter!

Now don't worry. We aren't splitting up again right after everyone got together. The team will be reformed next chapter. But it made for a nice way to keep the fight going without any casualties. So, I hope you all enjoy, and have a happy new year! Make good resolutions! We've resolved to get more than five chapters this coming year.

**Keyo:** A pattern is forming here where I manage to get a chapter up and swear that I'll update properly from now on. I dislike it, so I'm not going to make any promises until I've actually managed to keep to a schedule.

Where we've been is a long story, at least on my part, involving many screw ups and some soul destroying. I'm good, and my beloved bike was stolen but has been replaced.

For all the crap I've walked into recently several things have managed to remain constant. One of these is the progress, no matter how slow, on OB&B. And as long as other constants, particularly a certain someone, exist, I don't think any of my angst has a chance of taking me over.

Really, my angst is piss compared to a lot of peoples. To get angsty would probably require me to put my hair over one eye. And I have sexy eyes, so that's not happening.

Oh, and once again the roman numerals are meant to be pronounced as letters, giving us 'Ex-Ai-Ai-Ai.'

Merry Christmas to all.


	47. Chapter 47

–**Digimon Online Message Board –**

**Topic: Back up –censored-.**

**MasaruFcePnchr: **were back up –censored-! –censored- Pandai finly got thar –censored- fixed.

**MasaruFcePnchr: **whr teh –censored- is everyone?

**MasaruFcePnchr: **am I the only –censored- one of us even –censored- here?

**MasaruFcPnchr: **Just keeping the thread going for when you all get back.

**MasaruFcPnchr: **bump

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**MasaruFcPnchr: w**here ar you guys?

**MasaruFcPnchr:** bump

* * *

Of Blood and Binary

Chapter 47: Tsuyunoinochi Part 2

Steam Dreams.

* * *

Surrounding the city of Tsuyunoinchi was the Labyrinth Forest, so named for the natural maze it presented. For years it was a terrifying shield for the town as the trees seemed to reach up into the sky itself and any who wondered in were soon lost within its dark depths. However, flying Digimon had found the challenge rather laughable, easily sailing over the trees, and the Trailmon Company had made the journey through an easy task as they cleared a straight path for their lines.

However, no-one had quite expected a tour bus to clear its own path with the use of an overpowered amplifier.

"Well Nanimon, it looked like we arrived just in time to save the day. What does that make us?" Eight asked, ludicrous sunglasses upon his face and a still humming guitar in his hands as he stood with the Digimon atop the bus roof.

"Uhhh…" the rotund Mr-T wannabe gaped at his boss.

"Damn right!" The hacker pumped his fist in the air, ignoring the stage manager's inability to join in on his appreciation of pop-culture.

"Well, the amp didn't go boom this time," Citramon commented, patting the black obelisk that sat atop the bus.

"Of course, my genius has improved the design considerably. The Amp Buster 5000 is now fully capable of being classed as a weapon of mass destruction. There's no way that…" the genius paused his proclamations, "Ah, I almost tempted fate there," he grinned.

"It doesn't change the fact that he's getting back up," Shademon droned from the amplifier's shadow, watching as the bizarre Tankmon began to right himself.

"Blast! Once again reality disproves the myths of popular culture!" Eight struck his best 'cursing the world' pose. "On the upshot, it means I'm safe to say 'at least it can't get any worse'."

The flash of light which preceded his last transformation came again, and a bellowing roar rose from XIII that was a mix between GeoGreymon's roar and the ghastly sound of the buzz-saw Trailmon's engine filled the air.

"Damn you reality!" Eight once again dropped into his favoured curse pose, before whipping out his dark toned digivice.

**############**

**Level: Ultimate**

**Type: ####**

**Attacks: #### ########, #### ####**

"Huh," Eight blinked at the small screen as it displayed the mess of hash signs. The creature before him definitely looked like MetalGreymon. Its dinosaur like body having the same orange scales with purple stripes, the same cyborg parts, the helmet, the claw arm, the missile silo in his chest, and the long purple wings. But the face was not the dinosaur face. It was that same wide mouth and devilish eyes that had appeared on the previous bodies the being had used.

"Okay. I'll work this out in a minute. Until that minute is done, Etemon, Volcamon, would you like to take care of this before we have missiles launched at us?" he shouted down through the bus' skylight.

"Ladies and gentlemen time to place a bet."

"'Cause we're gonna go and make that sucka' regret!"

"Would you both just go already!" Eight yelled. "Yeesh, you'd think we could have dropped this rhyming gimmick by now," he sighed, clapping a hand to his fore-head. "Oy."

* * *

"OH GOD! ARRRRGHHH! OH! DEAR! GOD!"

Liz's screams rattled through her body as she summoned her willpower in order to pull herself upright. She had experienced this pain before, some few years ago when climbing a tree. Or, more accurately, after having fallen from a tree. It was only through the same will that got her back to being upright that she managed to keep herself from clapping her hand to the broken arm, instead seizing on her leg, screwing up the material of her trousers, and letting her mouth continue to spew obscenities as she tried to get a handle on the pain.

"Sound off if you're alive!" Vincent called out, louder than he would normally need to thanks to the ringing that ran through everyone's ears.

"Drakemon here. Ow."

"Agumon, still alive."

"LIZ ALIVE AND WITH A BROKEN ARM!" the blonde bellowed, letting her agony be known.

Pulling himself to his feet Vincent winced as the pain spread throughout his body, the sonic blast had tossed them all through the air and forest as it crushed a swathe through the trees. In all honesty he was sure that one broken limb was a lucky turnout, but that feeling was largely suppressed by the need to see to his injured friend.

"Drakemon, Agumon, try and see what the enemy is up to." He grunted out the command, receiving a call of compliance from the Digimon as he staggered to his friend. "Okay, okay. I'm here," he grunted as he dropped down to his knees beside the girl.

"Oh dear Gods this hurts!" Liz seethed. "How bad is it?"

"Well…" Vincent murmured as he inspected the damage. "You're not bleeding," he tried to reassure her.

"That would be good news if we actually bled here!" she snapped.

"So you noticed too, huh?" Vincent tried to sound light hearted.

"Lots of waitressing accidents," Liz returned the effort, forcing a grin onto her tear stained face.

"It hasn't pierced the skin. But it's messed up real bad," Vincent confessed, before giving a grimace and beginning to unbutton his shirt.

"Vince, I'm flattered but this really isn't the time to come on to me," Liz kept up the forced grin.

"You need a sling." Vincent tried to keep his mind on the task at hand. His shirt had lost a few buttons during the tumble and the same went for the one Liz was wearing so he was already battling distractions. "And neither of us grabbed a first aid kit before jumping on the dragon. Ready?"

Liz gave a nod, gritting her teeth and screaming into them as Vincent fitted her arm into the improvised sling, tying it about her neck and letting her arm settle by her stomach.

"How does that feel?" he asked. The glare he received in return effectively answered his question.

* * *

"So…um…does this count as cool?" Drakemon asked his adopted sibling.

"No," was Agumon's blunt response.

The faux MetalGreymon was putting up an impressive fight, his metal claw arm lashing out on its cable again and again as he kept Etemon and Volcamon at bay, the silos on his chest unleashing the occasional missile. Meanwhile Etemon was bouncing around the terrain, rebounding off of trees and sliding along the trench the G Note had carved.

"Concert Crush!" he called into his cordless microphone, creating a sound barrier that diverted the incoming missiles.

Taking advantage of the gap his former musical rival had created Volcamon took a straight charge at the beast, Etemon somersaulting out of the way and allowing the American Football Playing Volcano Rapper to launch his attack.

"Big Bang Tackle!" he boomed, the volcano on his back unleashing a burst of flame that gave a dramatic boost to his speed letting him barrel into the enemy with devastating force. Or he would have, had XIII not unleashed another round of Giga Destroyer missiles from his chest despite the dangerously close proximity, the explosion rocking both combatants and sending them flying apart.

Battered, Volcamon was fortunate in the strength of his armour that kept him from being killed by the attack. Pulling himself upright he watched as the MetalGreymon shrugged off the damage to his body by once more shifting forms, the horrid face remaining as he now took on the form of a Silphymon. The strange beast/cat man like Digimon grinned with XIII's monstrous face, the feathers on its white arms bristled as its brown talon topped feet cut small grooves in the ground.

"Broooohahahahahahaha!" he cackled. "You've no chance of defeating me! I can just keep swapping my body to get rid of every wound!"

"But can you take three of us?" Vincent shouted a challenge, his red flame of evolution burning about his body before flowing through the Digivice to Drakemon. "Ultimate Evolution!"

"Drakemon Digivolve To…ClayDrakemon!" The Dragon came out of the red flame smirking, clad in the armour and cape of his ultimate form, the sword that was his namesake held in both hands.

"Brooohahahahaha! You really do have a power," XIII boomed. "I guess things have gotten out of hand. I'll come back to play with you all again later. Love y'all!" Crouching, he used the powerful legs of his Silphymon body to launch himself into the sky, the thunderous noise of a sonic boom accompanying him as he took flight, vanishing into the sky.

"What?" ClayDrakemon asked as everyone began to look at him. "Guys. I don't fly _that_ fast."

"Ha! He wasn't so tough!"

"Guess we showed that we're hot stuff!"

"Excuse me!" Vincent walked between the rhyming pair, restraining the violent anger that thrummed through him, ClayDrakemon following in his wake, giving a friendly wave to Etemon and Volcamon before vanishing in a burst of red flame and returning to his rookie form.

"All right. Using Clay for intimidation didn't burn me down to Pipmon!" the red lizard cheered as he appreciated having retained his hands.

"Eight! Come down from there!" the Lieutenant-Colonel of the Nightmare Soldiers bellowed, the authority in his voice clear.

"No," the demoted officer returned with a childish pout. "Wait, how did you know it was me? Ah ha! I obviously exude an aura of such greatness that merely the hint of my presence lets all know of me! Or my charm is so good that despite the differences between my real self and my game self I am recognisable, even at a distance!"

"I recognised your colour on the freaking radar!" Vincent continued to yell, waving his digivice in the air. "Now get down here!"

"You can't talk to Mr Eightmon that way!" Nanimon interjected, moving to stand before the human, arms folded across his chest.

"Security is another of the jobs we take seriously foo'," Citramon joined in.

"Mr Eightmon?" Komodomon quirked an eye at the figure.

"Yes. I am now a person of importance. A rock star, if you will. Did my awesome shades, sweet shirt, rockin' jacket and hard-core belt not tip you off?" Eight asked, flamboyantly posing as he gestured to each item of his new and improved wardrobe, exuding a smugness that few in the world could replicate.

And was then hit in the face with a rock.

"You broke my arm you jackass!" Liz bellowed, proving a surprisingly good shot with her off arm. "Now get down here so I can return the favour!"

"Like that's an incentive!" Eight shouted back.

"Um…shouldn't you be stopping this?" Komodomon asked his partner.

"Y'know…I think I just might let this slide," Vincent responded with a malicious, vengeful grin.

"Oh boy."

* * *

"I must ask, why did we not attempt to acquire the wages earned by Lieutenant Colonel Vincent and the others? Surely they would have appreciated us having their earnings collected for when they return?" Bulletmon enquired as the small group left the station.

"Well…we can't be sure that they'll find us quickly, but they'll definitely go to the station first. So at least they're guaranteed to have their money. Especially since something might happen to split us up even more," BB reasoned, straightening his t-shirt and adjusting his goggles as he got used to being back in his own clothing instead of the uniform Gazimon had provided.

"I see," Tanya responded, rubbing at her arm in embarrassment. She was the older one of the two, heck, she was his babysitter. But here she was letting the young boy take the lead as they walked.

Tsyunoinochi was a rather bizarre city. They had all expected something evocative of Japan's feudal period, given the Japanese name and that its ruler was the Lord of Sincerity, and all Digimon connected with that symbol tended to have a definite Japanese theme to them. In fact, the city fit the cliché very well, with tall pagoda buildings, banners bearing kanji and all buildings fitting the feudal Japanese style. The deviation came in the great steam engines and lightening rods that decorated the place. The entire city seemed to be one colossal steam powered mechanism with giant gears rising from the ground in various places and dominating the sky beyond even the tallest of buildings. Sunlight struggled to reach through the thick clouds of smog produced by the chimneys of factories and houses, leaving an overall feel of ancient Kyoto and industrial age London.

"Well, it's not a lot, but it's home," Kotemon shrugged. "I suppose this is where we part ways. I have to go and make my report to my Lord. I'd advise that you don't stay in town long. War is coming and you'll be caught up in it if you don't leave while you can," he warned.

"We aren't leaving without the others," Tanya protested. "We've got to wait for them…We've been split up too much already." She curled into herself a little as she spoke.

"I didn't believe you'd do otherwise," Kotemon's voice sounded like a smile as he turned to face away from the group. "I'll be sure to let my Lord know of how you have aided me and to ask about any others from your world. If you continue down this street you'll find the Nemure hotel we stayed at in Shanty. It's the best place to stay if you're going to wait a long time."

"Thank you very much Kotemon," Tanya gave a small bow, Pupmon replicating the action from her arms.

"You are too kind," Bulletmon nodded his head.

"Thankees!" Pupmon cheered.

"Wait. The Nemure? Oh, you mean there's a chain of them!" BB snapped his fingers in imitation of all sudden thoughts he'd seen on TV.

"Ah…well…You'll see," Kotemon could only shrug. "Take care guys." He turned to face them full on and gave a tight military salute. "And please extend my thanks to the others as well." And with that, he turned and walked away into the crowds.

"It's so strange to actually see him go," BB sighed. "I got really used to having him around…Yasyamon too."

"Ah hate good-byes mahself," Ranamon interjected. "So if it's okay with y'all, Ah'd like to stick around awhile longer. If that isn't a problem, that is?"

"Oh um…" Tanya found herself looking at BB for an answer. Partially that was entirely rational, she barely knew Ranamon, but on the other hand she could only scold herself for it. Shouldn't she be trying to be responsible?

"Your Aniki's friend!" Pupmon suddenly cheered. "'Courses you can come with us!"

'Pupmon has more control than I do…now I really am worrying...' Tanya bemoaned as she looked to her happy little partner.

"C'mon. We'll get a room at Nemure and work out what we want to do next," BB flashed a grin, the lightening bolt marks on his cheeks bending with it.

Amidst the brass of the steam fuelled machinery and the wood and clay of the traditional Japanese dwellings sat the Nemure inn, the same grand Victorian manor house that had been situated in Shanty, its western style leaving it very out of place with the Japanese aesthetic.

"Huh…I guess they build them all the same," BB reflected as they looked up at the gorgeous building.

"It would seem sensible," Bulletmon joined. "It would make them very recognisable."

"It's a very lovely building," Tanya smiled, gazing up at the fantastic structure.

"They've got some um…hot springs…if you wanna have…well…if you wanna use them…" BB worked to hide his blush as they entered the inn.

"Oh, that'd be lovely," Tanya replied, allowing her concerns to be eased by the idea of the warm water. She'd always wanted to try a hot spring.

"KO-NEE-CHEE-WAAAAAA!!!" a high pitched voice suddenly exploded from behind the group causing them all to jump and scream in unison.

"!!!!"

* * *

"Wow, this is a lot easier than blowing up trees to make a path," Eight confessed as the tour busses formed a single file convoy and followed the Trailmon line in towards Tsuyunoichi.

"Yeah…I can't believe a guy as smart as you thought that was a good idea," Komodomon chuckled as he joined his human friend in lounging on the bus' roof, dipping a claw in the cooler that lay between them for a drink. The pair were taking advantage of the current wind direction to bask in the sun before they reached the smog filled steam powered city, and so lounged with a drinks cooler, sunglasses and the comfiest pillows they could snag from the interior.

"Hey. I'd built a giant weapon grade guitar amplifier. Why _wouldn't_ I think that it was a good idea?" Eight shot a manic grin back to the lizard.

"Fair point," Komodomon returned, using one of his fangs to punch a hole in the juice can rather than use the ring pull. "So when do you think it will be safe for you to go back down there?"

"Oh I think that Kitty will calm down first, and then he'll be able to keep his little attack dog on a shorter leash."

"Still, I'm surprised Vincent punched you as well."

"So would I if I hadn't pushed him so far all this time," Eight confessed, lowering his sunglasses to reveal the twin black-eyes that now decorated his face. "I was surprised at what he looked like though. I was betting on him being a 40 something year old pervert with a glandular problem otherwise known as being fat."

"Dude. You knew as well as I did he was still in high school."

"Maybe I thought he was a total idiot and was being held back. Or that he just couldn't get out from behind his desk."

"There's a reason most folk don't like you, y'know," Komodomon crushed the can, satisfied that its contents were drained.

"Psh. Listen kid, if you spend your life worrying about what most folk think you'll never be happy," Eight made his best effort to sound sage. "The people I want to like me like me and that's enough. Besides, I'm a rock star now. Most folk love me."

"Didn't know you liked having digi-panties hurled on stage at you," Komodomon smirked.

"The troubling part is it tends to be the guys who throw them," Eight smirked back.

"That was terrible," Komodomon shook his head.

"Yeah."

"God I missed this," Eight confessed, pulling a pair of cans from the cooler and tossing one to his digital friend.

"Heh, yeah. But now I gotta put up with that scrawny mug of yours."

"Perfection that no graphics could ever manage to capture.

"Yeah right," Komodomon laughed. None of what was said was really funny enough for it, but their reunion had brought enough joy that the chance to laugh together was infectious and the two friends laughed loudly into the wind.

* * *

"I can't believe you punched him."

"What?" Vincent shouted back to his friend, any effort to get the bus' occupants to turn down their music had been futile, and so the pair were huddled together in a corner, using raised voices to communicate. Vincent sat with a Volcamon t-shirt on, almost as if to enforce a differentiation between him and Eight by 'siding' with the other artist. Liz had also accepted some safety pins to replace the buttons she had lost in the sonic attack, thus granting her shirt a greater level of modesty and stability.

"I said I can't believe you punched him!" Liz repeated, louder this time.

"He broke your arm!" Vincent responded. "And…I dunno. I just lost it! I mean he's always…gah!"

"Ha! You're actually feeling guilty over this!" Liz scoffed, snatching a plate of cream puffs from a passing roadie and proceeding to devour one. "You suck at punching people!"

"I'm too used to stopping you I suppose. Gah! Now I'll have to apologise to him…and he'll probably make me beg him to work on finding a way to get us all home…And…did you just eat all of those cream puffs?"

"Yup," Liz licked her fingers having divested the tray of its contents.

"There were, like, twenty!"

"I'm really hungry all of a sudden," Liz responded, eyes scanning the room for more food.

"Maybe you've just spent too much time around hungry Digimon when you were waitressing?" Vincent proposed. Liz had always been a big eater, but she'd certainly never been as bad as this.

"I don't see why you think we need Eight anyway." Liz continued, waving to a Digimon who was passing out bags of bon bons and prompting him to throw a pack to her. "I mean, we're not exactly working with computers anymore." She popped a few of the sweet treats in her mouth. "I would have thought the way home now sits more in your territory, y'know, exploration and investigation with some good old fashioned fisticuffs." She emphasized with a pair of jabs from her good arm.

"This world is made of computer data, and it was a program that got us here. If anyone's capable of understanding how we got here, it's Eight. As much as I can't stand him his being a genius is genuine," Vincent confessed with a sigh. "And I really shouldn't have hit him."

"That'll teach you to stick up for me," Liz gave him a friendly elbow nudge. "Hey. If you want to distract yourself from the guilt and your imminent grovelling, why not worry about how everyone else is doing now that we've left them alone. Not to mention everyone we're yet to find."

"Why are we friends again?"

"Because I make you feel good about yourself and you make me good food," Liz beamed, finishing the bon bons. "Which I'm looking forward to having again as soon as possible. These things are naff."

"I've clearly spoiled you," Vincent rolled his eyes.

Chortling, Liz nudged her friend again before leaning back against the wall. The pair had seated themselves on the floor so it wasn't exactly the most comfortable position available, but they were young and had sat in their fair share of awkward places.

"Don't worry about everyone too much. We'll manage. Together we can even apologise to Eight," she reassured.

"Thanks," Vincent nudged back, gently. "Do you think we've any chance of getting them to turn the music down?"

"Probably not."

* * *

Pupmon was proud of herself. Having exploited the forceful whaps her tail was capable of she was succeeding in motoring around the hot spring on her own. Of course, this didn't mean that Tanya wasn't worrying about her and keeping an eye on her, which was made easy by Pupmon's desire to have her partner pay attention to her, occasionally calling out with a 'lookee'me Tanya!' as she puttered around.

For her part the hot spring was almost all that Tanya had imagined it to be. Sat in the deliciously hot water she wanted nothing more than to stretch out, savouring the available space. The tin baths in Totemmon's inn had been nothing like this. The reason she wasn't stretching out was that Nemure's hot spring wasn't unisex and so seated across from her was BB. Whilst she had her large wash cloth to shield her modesty she wasn't able to get beyond the embarrassment of being so exposed around a boy, let alone the boy she used to babysit.

For his part BB wasn't doing much better. With his own washcloth shielding him he was doing his best not to look too much at Tanya. He blamed Ranamon personally, the sultry little frog had enjoyed teasing him and now he couldn't look at his friend straight.

'Yeah. It was all because of that frog.' He thought to himself. 'All her fault. All her-omygodI'mstaring!' He panicked, dipping his head into the water and trying to use the heat to hide his blushing.

"Bulletmon! Bulletmon!" Pupmon chirped, "Why won't you come in Bulletmon?"

"I am sorry Pupmon, but I fear that the water would not do my armour or weapons any good." The green gunslinger explained from his seat, sitting in a prim and proper fashion.

"Ooooooh…" Pupmon pined.

"Bulletmon, why don't you take it all off then?" Tanya asked.

"I've…never really thought about it…it wasn't possible back in the game-world," Bulletmon replied, looking at the gauntlets upon his arms.

"Why don't you try taking it off now?" BB asked.

What proceeded was a rather long silence as Bulletmon stared at his armour and everyone stared at him, watching as the virus type Digimon slowly began to shake.

"I…I think I'd rather not…it seems scary."

Once again the two humans found a desire for the sweat-drop emoticon.

"KO-NEE-CHEE-WA!" Monmon suddenly cried as she appeared from the hot spring waters, snorkel mask on her face.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" the collected group screamed, not yet used to Monmon's ability to spontaneously appear, or her loud voice.

"Are you enjoying your stay?" she asked as if her actions were perfectly normal and her guests weren't trying to recover from premature heart attacks.

"How do you dos that!?" Pupmon gasped in amazement, puttering up to the green monkey.

"I wanna know how this is the same Nemure we visited in Shanty," BB grumped.

"Because Nemure is Nemure and Monmon is Monmon," the green monkey replied, having for reasons known only to her placed Pupmon upon her head.

"This is the same Nemure as the one in Shanty, right?" BB asked again.

"Yup!" Monmon beamed.

"And you're the same Monmon I met there, right?"

"Yup!"

"And this is supposed to make sense?"

"Yup!"

"But…how did you get here…how did you get everything here before us?"

"Silly, silly!" Monmon gave a little wave. "Nemure is in one place and all places. And Monmon goes with it."

"Silly, silly," Pupmon repeated.

"I still don't get it," BB sighed.

"Are you enjoying your stay?" Monmon jumped back to her hostessing questions.

"Oy…" BB sank down into the hot water as Tanya giggled.

* * *

"We're sorry." Liz and Vincent bowed their heads in absolute sincerity. "We weren't thinking and reacted hastily."

"No real need to apologise. I can understand why you acted the way you did and you were only doing what you thought was best. Though why you're apologising I don't know," Gazimon pointed to Vincent. "I thought you didn't get there until after Goldie and that pink blob of hers blew up the car?"

Gazimon had been found in the Tsyunoinoichi Trailyard. The wolf-bunny always seemed most at home around the Trailmon, especially his own. The Trailmon himself was missing his carriages, likely due to the need to dispose of the devastated carriage. The engine Digimon was happily munching down on a giant silver skinned water-melon, its interior seemingly filled with oil rather than water, his appreciative gushes of steam joined those of the other Trailmon digging into similar fare.

"Agumon is helping with some unloading right now. And as they are my subordinates I am also responsible for their actions."

"Y'know…this is a lot better than the apology I got," Eight mumped from the staff door of the Trailmon station.

"What do you care? Don't you have your own rock band now?" Komodomon responded, joining his friend in leaning against the doorframe.

"Technically, I have two," Eight corrected. "But indeed I did forge them into one, loyal, glorious whole. I have forged, if you will, a Superband! No wait…A Batband!"

"Why a Batband?"

"Psh. Because everyone knows that Batman is better than Superman," Eight gave an exaggerated eye roll. "Have I taught you nothing?"

"Well, I've found all your advice on picking up girls to be completely useless."

"What? How can you say that?" Eight almost looked to be honestly aghast. "My method for acquiring the affections of the lady-folk are perfect."

"Well so far I haven't exactly had opportunity to fix her computer, or any anime DVDs to lend her," Komodomon snarked.

"I see, I see…Wait. 'Her'? Oh ho ho ho! So you've found yourself a _lady_!" Eight chortled, ribbing the red lizard.

"Hey, wait…wha…I'm not meant to be on the receiving end of this!" Komodomon exclaimed.

"Ha ha!" the hacker laughed. "Behold the merciless rampage of King Eightmon, greatest rock star ever!"

"Oh, least-loathed-meat-sack," Shademon's whispery voice suddenly rasped, walking up behind the pair as the station was too brightly lit for his normal shadow slipping. "While you were in here for the grovel show the band decided to ditch you. Something about refusing to wear uniforms."

"What! My uniforms were magnificent! And my lava lamp is still in the bus!" Eight burst, dashing out of the station.

"'Least-loathed-meat-sack'? That sounds dangerously close to being a pop-culture reference," Komodomon eyed his effective rival. "You wouldn't have happened to have actually bonded with your partner would you?"

His glowing eyes forming into tight slits Shademon stared long and hard at lizard before letting the hard lines bend with a malicious sort of joy.

"So what's this about you acquiring your own little Gwen Stacey?" he asked, voice dripping with predatory intent and vicious insinuation, a reminder that Shademon prided himself on being as pure a virus type as possible.

"Dude. Now that was definitely a pop-culture reference," Komodomon snorted, deflating Shademon's menace.

"I hate you."

"Love you too 'bud'. Love you too."

"C'mon you two. Gazimon said everyone else went to the Nemure hotel," Vincent announced.

"Hey. What happened to my chance to say good-bye?" Komodomon pouted, an odd look on a lizard.

"Fine, fine." Vincent waved defensivly. "Just don't give me the puppy-dog look. Creeps me the hell out when you try to do it. I'll get changed."

"Wait,wait, wait... You're ditching the t-shirt and smart trousers for those messed up things and a shirtless cloak look?" Komodomon asked.

"That entire bus journey was nothing but Volcamon and Etemon singing...There's enough of an artist's soul in me to know when I want to disassociate myself with something that awful. Also, this thing's too small and I can just buy a new shirt or two in town."

"I'm just looking forward to wearing an outfit where people will call me 'Miss' in absolute terror rather than demanding," Liz grinned, white coat slung over one arm.

"So the catering business isn't for you then?"

"Since when am I any good at taking orders?" Liz beamed.

"Freeloa...Komodomon," Gazimon slowed himself, approaching the Digimon as the humans left.

"Hey Chief," Komodomon grinned.

"Heh. It's only when you're quitting that you call me something cool like that," Gazimon chuckled.

"Consider it pay-back for all that 'Freeloader' and 'Employee' crap," Komodomon returned.

"It's gonna feel lonely goin' back to the rails on my own. You sure I can't convince you to stay on? Travel the rails with me? Tsyunoinoichi is gonna be real dangerous soon."

"No can do. Vinnie's my partner as much as Trailmon is yours. Can't let the big lug outta my sight without having him run into some psycho he needs me and my glorious muscles to sort out." The red lizard threw in a complementary flex.

"Komodomon. I want to tell you one thing before you go," Gazimon's voice became serious in tone, enough so that Komodomon dropped his playful stance. "That..._thing_ you and the others can do. I don't know what manner of being your comrades are, and I can't claim to understand how they help you evolve so fast, but keep that power to yourself as much as you can, okay? It's certainly not natural to our world, and it could lead either to a lot of negative reactions or worse, having someone hunt you for it."

"Thanks Chief. But don't worry, I've lived my whole life as an anomaly and I live my life for danger," the red Digimon winked.

"Komodomon, you should take this seriously there's..."

"Don't worry Chief. I've got Vincent to worry," Komodomon gave a wry grin. "Trust me, he's always taking everything into account. Me, I'm the bad-ass who takes care of trouble when it appears." With a wave, Komodomon turned to exit the station. "Take care of yourself Chief."

"Damn kids...Right buddy?" Gazimon turned to his loyal partner.

"Awwwwwwwwooooooooog!" Trailmon responded in his deep bass tone.

"Yeah you're right. And no thanks, that stuff is far too oily for me."

* * *

Vincent would have liked to feel a little nostalgic. He had lived in the little cabin aboard Trailmon for a good portion of his stay in the Digital World and life aboard the Trailmon had been good. However, he was currently very distracted by Liz's body, particularly her arm.

"It still hurts...but it isn't actually broken anymore," Liz explained, wincing and hissing as she moved it more than she should.

"It'd make sense...We don't have blood anymore so a change in the rest of our structure isn't unsurprising. Is that the most that you can move it?"

"Yeah, it meant I was able to get out of what was left of the shirt you gave me but uh...Getting my coat back on is proving difficult," she nodded to the garment that her good arm held, covering up her body.

"Don't tell me you're actually embarrassed being seen like this," Vincent chuckled, taking the garment and holding it open, letting Liz begin to manoeuvre her aching arm into the sleeve.

"Dream on. I just feel silly asking for help with something like this," Liz scoffed, wincing as she tried to bend her arm.

"Y'know, we could just drape this over your shoulders until your arm finishes healing...it probably should be in a sling anyway."

"No chance. I can't let Tanya see me like that."

"Why Tanya?" Vincent asked, eye-brow raised.

"I already told you that that girl worries more than you do. If she saw that I'd gotten hurt while she couldn't do anything it'd tear her up inside."

"You really grew fond of her didn't you?"

"Pupmon too, the little rascal," Liz grinned before seething as the sleeve was pulled up to her shoulder.

"There!" Vincent proclaimed as Liz proceeded to thump him in the arm. "Liz...thanks for looking after them both when we were separated."

"Yeesh. You still going on about that?" Liz grinned, thumping his arm again for good measure. "I took care of your pets just like I did the school hamster."

"That died," Vincent scowled.

"Hee!" Liz beamed in amusement. "Seriously though, keep this up and I'll start to think that you're crushing on the little puppy."

"Nah. Pupmon isn't exactly my type," he shot back.

"Wha?" Liz blinked, caught off guard.

"Hee!" Vincent beamed back, receiving another well humoured thump.

* * *

"They're gone..."

"Yup."

"They're really gone."

"Yup."

"I thought you were helping them unload stuff?"

"Your stuff."

"You didn't try and stop them?"

"I may have made some half hearted protests while I threw the most delicate items I could find as hard as I could."

On his knees, Eight stared in the wake of the tire treads that the tour buses had created on their speedy exit from Tsyunoinichi. The smell of the engines and unhealthy foods still lingered in the air and Eight was sure he could still hear the terrible music floating about him. The stuff he had gathered in his 'tenure' with the bands lay strewn and largely broken on the ground, a result of Agumon's brand of 'helping.' The Digimon crowded around the station looked at the broken man with the usual collection of gawkers' expression, confused, intrigued, jubilant, bored, much as any crowd watching a public spectacle was.

"I had followers...I had fans...I had a portable microwave oven..." Eight stared at his hands, looking broken and destitute.

"There, there," Agumon spoke in monotone, providing a very unsympathetic pat to Eight's back, the hacker suddenly standing straight and bowling Agumon over.

"Oh well. I've got my nifty new leather jacket with all the money stuffed inside the seams. I'm rich, they're poor, and I'll never have to put up with their terrible music ever again," he beamed.

"Why aren't you depressed...ever?" Agumon glared.

"Your hate and frustration fills me with joy and rainbows," Eight smiled back.

"Dude. Is that your stuff all over the road? This is why you gotta tip roadies," Komodomon shook his head as he walked up, Vincent and Liz at his back, Shademon lurking in some shadow somewhere.

"Yeah. Fortunately I don't need it anymore. I have retired from rock-stardom and so have no more need for terrible modern art pieces," Eight turned his nose up to the collection of junk on the road. "Though I do miss my portable microwave oven. And you are shirtless. I wasn't aware that we were creating a male nipple policy, if I'd known I would have hacked the sleeves off this baby and gone for the Freddy Mercuary look."

"Ha ha." Vincent suppressed the frustration Eight's very presence had on him. No matter how much scrawnier his real self was he was the same annoying person who had tormented him since joining the NS. "Eight, we're heading over to Nemure to meet with the others."

"Is that some kinda gay bar?" Eight asked, quirking a brow.

"It's...never mind." Vincent pushed his palm against his face.

A high pitched beep suddenly peaked up from Eight's dark Digivice as it dangled from his belt. Snapping it from the genuine leather (how it was genuine leather the hacker had chosen not to investigate) he gave a disinterested glance at the screen before looking over to his companions.

"Um...do you want to go and get these people first?" he asked, dangling the device.

"What?" Vincent burst out, both he and Liz seizing their own Digivices. However, their screens displayed no more signals than the orange, red and purple blips of the three assembled NS members.

"I've got nothing." Liz looked back up at the hacker.

"Oh. I tinkered with mine. Managed to expand the range to silly levels...eventually...on the upside I wrote my own little instruction manual so if you want yours modded I won't have to risk as many spontaneous explosions," Eight scratched at his chin.

"Eight. Are you sure that the signals aren't just BB and Tanya?" Vincent asked.

"BB? Who the fuelsalage is BB?" Eight asked in turn with an elevated dose of bewilderment.

"Digital Kaiser Sephiroth," Shademon supplied. "Honestly, I paid more attention than you did..."

"We actually gave the runt a decent..." Looking about, Eight became aware that everyone was very much not in the mood for his antics. "Ugh. Yes, I'm sure. There are too many dots, see." He offered the Digivice for Vincent's inspection.

For a moment Vincent frowned at the various dots scattered about the screen. The map layout was huge and it was hard to spot what the colours were meant to be, but then a smile blossomed on his face and it seemed as if the world began to lift off his shoulders.

"See. Toldya we'd find more people," Liz grinned. "You go on and find them all, I'll look after your pet puppy awhile longer," she finished with a pat to his back and a broad grin.

"I suddenly feel like I have missed many chances to humiliate him," Eight commented.

"Oh yeah. Don't worry, you'll get to catch up," Komodomon beamed.

"I hope you two aren't tired of each other yet, you're coming with me," Vincent interrupted.

"No! Not leg-work!" Eight protested melodramatically.

"C'mon big boy. You gotta work off all that junk food," Komodomon chuckled, patting the hacker's stomach.

"No! Curse my alleged allergy to anything resembling exercise!" Eight loudly lamented. "Very well then, oh courageous leader, lead on!" He gesticulated majestically.

"Eight...your Digivice is the only one that's been modified," Vincent sighed.

"Right. Everyone! Bow to your new King!" Eight cackled as he began to lead the group deeper into the steam-punk-shogun city.

"Good luck!" Liz waved cheerily.

"Ten says they kill each other," Agumon deadpanned.

"You're on."

* * *

The central Pagoda was the home of the Lord of Sincerity and the governing body of Tsyunoinochi. Kneeling in the humble seiza position Kotemon kept his head bowed as his Lord mulled over the information he had presented.

The chamber was a contradiction to the city itself, full of green banners and living plant life so unlike the mechanised land beyond the walls. Seated upon a strange, short throne was the lord of Sincerity. His body bore a heavy resemblance to that of Wargreymon, the oddly shaped collection of human and dinosaur traits but with armour that was much more that of a Samurai. Robes and plates decorated him along with a blade-like horn at the end of his helm and long silver hair spiking out from its back, clashing with his dark scales and armour. He sat in a dignified and contemplative pose, eyes closed as his mind worked, creating a tangible silence as his loyal servant waited.

"This is most troubling indeed," he finally pronounced, clawed fingers raking what passed for his chin. "The more so for the loss of Yasyamon and the Sharp Brigade..."

"I apologise for being unable to provide more useful information my Lord Gaiomon," Kotemon kept his face to the grass covered floor.

"You have done well to bring me what you could, Kotemon," Gaiomon reassured. "And the information you have provided on their warship will be invaluable. That such a weapon could exist is truly disturbing. And you say that your companions exhibited similar abilities to the creature that attacked you on Trailmon?"

"Yes sir. Though their method is distinctly different, allowing only linear progression and require a partner to achieve accelerated evolution," Kotemon continued. "However, I have received no indication of their having any alignment with Lord Pride."

"Yes. As you reported on the rather...heated battles against Grademon," Gaiomon nodded. "However if they are not our enemies what are the chances we can convince them to aid us?"

"I'm...not sure," Kotemon confessed. "They have their own agenda to fulfill, recovering their lost allies."

"Then we may have to force their co-operation," Gaiomon sighed. "Tsyunoinoichi was built to bring stability and peace to the lives of Digimon, not as a fortress against organized assault. And with the Lord of Pride leading it and that warship our forces may be overwhelmed."

"You wish to delay their stay so that they become caught up in the battle?" Kotemon looked up at his lord.

"We should at least approach them openly first. However, there may be little option for them anyway. We need to mobilize our defences immediately."

The plants around the room rustled before dissipating and revealing the concealed guards of the room the strange and flexible plant ninja Digimon Shurimon.

"Guards! Dispatch orders immediately. Begin preparations for emergency evacuations and ensure all rampart cannons are prepared," the Lord of Tsyunoinoichi barked. "We have a very small time frame to prepare in, but we can be prepared. Mobilize all military units and have our scouts position themselves at the perimeter of the Labyrinth Forest. Kotemon, I want you to take me to see these companions of yours."

"Yes, my Lord."

* * *

"The tea here is delicious," a delicate female voice sighed, savouring the herbal scent wafting up from her cup.

"I absolutely concur," a more masculine voice purred with equal satisfaction.

Both human and Digimon were seated outside a small cafe. Sat under the protective awning they were able to block out the smoky smell of the city as they savoured their drink, resting upon folded legs and lush cushions. The Digimon sported a large spiky main of red hair and looked like something of a miniature Leomon, with flash leather gauntlets and bright red trousers, his facial markings flexed with his smile as he took another sip of the steaming liquid. His companion was a young lady with lavishly long blonde hair and was dressed in sunset yellow petticoat and long skirt.

"We're back!" a jaunty young voice called out. "Leormon got a little over-enthusiastic."

The lion-cub Digimon bounded across the pillows and into his partner's arms, fur covered with what appeared to be bright pink candy floss.

"This place has so much yummy, yummy food Lily-um!" the little cub Digimon cheered.

"He wasn't too much trouble, was he Chad?" the young woman asked her companion.

With a slight blush, the black haired youth scratched the back of his messy hair. His clothing was more worn that one might have expected with his black jacket and trousers showing many rips and burn marks. His body was equally battered and bruised, but he seemed to carry all his wear and tear with pride.

"He's never a problem," Chad smiled, dropping down into the pile of cushions and picking up his own cooling cup, automatically making a face as the strong taste washed through his mouth.

"I'm sorry I have to rely on you so much," Lily apologised, patting over her partner's fur and doing her best to remove the remains of the sweet food. Leormon himself alternated between enjoying the affection and wincing as his fur was tugged.

"It's not a trouble at all," Chad smiled with red face again. "I'm more than happy to help you Lily."

"Tatum! Is that you?"

"That voice!" the young lady sat up, her normally lidded eyes springing open. "Cait?"

* * *

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Liz and Agumon screamed, nearly crashing into one another as they leapt away from the green monkey who had apparently materialised behind them.

"You'll get used to that...sort of..." BB grinned as his comrades managed to pull their heart rates down from Monmon's standard greeting.

"I see that you have been victorious Miss Elizabeth," Bulletmon added. "Miss Tanya will be most relieved to..."

"LIZ!"

"AGUMON!"

Barrelling through from the lounge, Tanya threw her arms about her friend while Pupmon barrelled into Agumon, knocking the off-guard Digimon off of his feet.

"Miss me?" Liz asked, suppressing a wince as Tanya crushed down on her still sore arm.

"Wh-Where's Cai...Vincent?" Tanya jumped back into worry mode. "He didn't..."

"He and Komodomon are fine," Liz smiled reassuringly.

"Relatively," Agumon near sighed as Pupmon's affection proved relentless. "We ran into Eight during our battle," he explained, intentionally avoiding anything resembling details. "They are currently looking for more of our allies."

"You mean we've found even more!?" Tanya beamed.

"Yup!" Liz beamed back.

"Yays! Everyone is gonna be togethers again!" Pupmon cheered, bouncing up and down on the orange lizard's head.

"HOORAY!" Tanya cheered, suddenly spinning Liz around and whooping. "Everything's coming together!"

The good mood proved infectious, especially since Monmon and Pupmon were quick to join in. It was enough to even pull BB from his efforts to appear grown-up as the group happily retreated to the lounge, batting around theories about who had been found and how long Vincent and Eight, Komodomon and Shademon were to last around each other. The knowledge that terrible things were to come was suppressed for awhile, revelling in the impending reunions.

But the terrible things to come were coming. And the chances that this was to be their last jubilant day for some time grew as the great warship ExVee marched ever closer.

* * *

Raven: One down! Five to go!

There's a lot going on here, so it's hard to really specify anything. We did, however, get Chad's cameo in, and he's going to be around for probably a couple more chapters; so, although Chad doesn't seem to be reading anymore, we made due on our promise, and that's good enough for us!

Chad, hope you catch up again. You're missing out.

Man oh man, this chapter is bigger than my notes. Keyo seems to be on an "over 9000" binge lately, huh? But, it's nice to have a little fun after all the crazy stuff that's been going on, and all the crazy stuff that's about to go down. We also needed to get rid of Eight's followers somehow, and adding random comedy to it is totally in Eight's style. And yes, I said the party will be getting back together, and I lied a little. But technically, they're all in the same city, so it's basically a less stressful method of getting the team together.

What should REALLY matter is, we got another chapter up. So that's awesome, considering we managed to do it in a month!

Keyo: Well, I made my deadline...sort of.

I promised myself that I'd get this chapter done before the month was out, and I have. It would seem that 'monthly' updates are going to be the norm from now on, which works very well given I'm making chapters that sit in the 8-9000 terriritory these days.

Tatum's real name is going to be a little telling of something about her, though I'm not sure if anyone will work out what it is. It's nice to finally get to Chad's cameo. This was the spot I'd planned for the cameo to start, and as Rave said he's going to be around for awhile.

My laptop is reaching the point where it needs to be replaced, and after its last reformatting my local technician neglected to put word back on so this chapter is brought to you via a proxy.

On a side note, thanks go to my beloved L-O for proof reading this for me and correcting all my horrible mistakes. And apologies for not responding to any reviews from the last chapter, I've been very busy with work and any writing time has been dedicated to trying to get the next chapter done.


	48. Chapter 48

We're back, a bullet in motion. We're back to tell you no lies.

* * *

"EYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"I must say, this looks incredibly painful." Lucemon narrowed his eyes at the experimental subjects bound to the solid metal tables. Though it disgusted him to once more have the dark doctor of the digital world Yersinimon aboard his ship, the Lord of Pride did well to keep his sentiments in check. His destructive battleship had been a gift from the twisted doctor, and as vile as his experiments were they did always boast devastating results. Most likely, he reasoned, his current level of unease was due to the temporary laboratory the beak masked digimon had erected within XV and the thought of having said vile experiments conducted in his presence.

"Not all patients are as stout as you are Lord Pride, tch." Yersinimon spoke without turning, continuing to fiddle with the various bits of machinery strewn about the cargo-bay-come-laboratory.

"I think your stoicism might have actually bothered him. I think he _really_ wanted to hear the great Lord of Pride scream like a spoiled child at the dentist's," Cecil joined in, still touting his parasol despite now being indoors.

"Tch," Yersinimon grunted.

Pressing one hand to his grey suit Lucemon felt at the strange lump that now lay beneath. He never had believed before that he would allow himself to be the subject of Yersinimon's twisted science, but the promise of increasing his power had been too tempting for him.

"Keeeheeeheeeheee...Don't stress yourself Lord Pride!" the twisted voice of the bound human cackled. "Pain like this! This pain! It is the greatest joy! Keeheeheeheeheehee!!"

"I cannot say that I know why you brought this human and this...experiment here," the Pride Lord sneered.

"For you, battle is a chance to gain pride and glory. For me, it is simply a chance to obtain research data, tch!" Yersinimon punctuated his sentence by cranking the dials before him, causing the twisted devices plugged into the subjects to thrum with their brutal malevolence, filling the metal chamber with screams. "And the data from this will be very, very interesting, chk. Possibly more so than even yours, tch."

* * *

Of Blood and Binary

Chapter 48: Tsyunoinoichi Part 3

Chessboard.

* * *

"Your tea," a Renamon waitress spoke in soft tones, her pink kimono and demure features gave her a docile appearance that seemed very out of place on a digimon normally portrayed as strong, cold and stoic.

"Th-thank you," the collective males stuttered, receiving their drinks and flushing redder as she bowed, the small flower tucked behind her ear and the light flush visible through fur increased the red faces of her patrons, who had a hard time in taking their eyes away as she retreated back into the small tea house.

"I just can't help but imagine her as the Brigadier..." Vincent confessed, letting out a deep breath.

"I confess...there is a temptation to picture her in that attire..." Flamemon held his tea-cup to his face with both hands to conceal his own flush.

"She was really pretty Lily-um!" Leormon purred to his partner, pawing up at her top as he spoke.

"Was she now? I wish I could have seen," Lily smiled, petting the lion-cub digimon.

"I...I think you'd have looked better in it Lily," Chad stumbled, going even redder.

"Maybe we can find something like it for me to wear while we're here," Lily smiled sincerely. "You'll have to describe it to me first though," she reminded.

"I keep forget-" Vincent started, only to be hastily interrupted.

"SO CLOSE!" Eight cried out, thumping his fist down on the table. "So very close but still so far off my dream!" He thumped the table again, causing the red flowers in the centre to shake. "Ah well, I got my sweet treats at least." He shrugged, picking up the flat biscuit strips coated with chocolate.

"As I was say-" Vincent started again, only to be interrupted once more.

"SO CLOSE!" Eight barked again, making other customers jump as his fist slammed down again. "But eh, close enough."

"As I was," Vincent broke off to glare at Eight, who smiled innocently with chocolate-biscuity-treat clamped in his teeth. "As I was saying, I keep forgetting that you're blind."

"Close enough to it," Lily smiled, sipping her tea. "I have to admit, Leormon and I wouldn't have survived this long without Chad and Flamemon." She beamed to the young blur at her side.

"It was nothing," Chad smiled back.

"I was only able to play the game thanks to the audio support; out here I am quite helpless. He has truly been my knight."

"Dude's redder than me," Komodomon whispered to his partner.

"So-"

"THERE!" Eight boomed, interrupting Vincent once more and gaining another heated glare that he ignored without effort. "Finished them both," he announced, dropping Lily and Chad's digivices to the table, a screw driver and some other bizarre tool vanishing beneath his coat.

"What?" Komodomon quirked an eye at his friend.

"When?" Chad clapped a hand to his waist, checking for the steel-grey Digivice.

"Excuse me. What is happening?" Lily asked, sweeping her eyes about the table with the thick blurs she saw only providing little information.

"My skills are many and deadly," Eight grinned, snatching up another chocolate coated snack.

"And I stole them," Shademon's cold voice made everyone jump, the shadow digimon's presence having not been realised until now.

"Why?" Vincent gritted his teeth, finding the productive direction the talk was meant to be going in was no match for Eight and his...well...being himself.

"Well I did mention that I was able to upgrade my Digivice a little bit to scan further didn't I?" Several blank looks were hurled in his direction. "Well I mentioned it to you two," Eight wafted his next chocolate treat at Vincent and Komodomon. "And since I know now how not to make them make things explode I thought that I should really be upgrading everyone's. And your conversation was boring me," he finished by chomping down on the latest treat.

"That's...actually really useful," Chad confessed, taking back his and Lily's digivices.

"You're welcome," the hacker beamed, turning to give Vincent a full view of his broad smile. About half a minute passed before Vincent was willing to risk trying to start talking again.

"So I think we need to fill each other in on what's happened so far. And you all need to know what's going to happen here soon."

* * *

"Rana-Rana! Rana-Rana! Rana-Rana!" Pupmon cheered, bouncing her way back into the hot spring. Full of exuberance she swiftly lost control of her own rotund little body and wound up tumbling her way along, whirling around head over tail. Toppling over the artificial scenery her small body proceeded to hurtle through the air landing safely in Ranamon's arms.

"Ya know sugah, I was tryin' to enjoy a nice peaceful bath all on mah lonesome," the frog digimon smiled patiently. Until the small puppy ball had barrelled in, Ranamon had been doing just that, ignoring the stress that was filling up her life with a nice peaceful soak in the fragrant hot springs.

"S'ank you Rana-Rana!" the puppy ball beamed from her upside down viewpoint.

With a small sigh Ranamon sank back into the water and placed Pupmon down on the side of the bath where, now righted, she began to bounce up and down in excitement.

"Now, what was it that you wanted?" the frog girl asked, adjusting her towel and crossing her arms.

"Liz an' Agumon got back! They says that they managed to chase away the monster, and that they founds Eight and more peoples!"

"More?" Ranamon suddenly bucked forward, her attention seized.

"Yah! Seems there's lots more of our friends here in Tsyun...Tsyun...Here!" Pupmon stumbled to her conclusion. "And so Aniki an' Vincent an' Eight an' Shademon went to go an' find them. Which means Aniki isn't back yet..." Pupmon's face drooped into an all consuming pout as if her tiny body couldn't handle more than one emotion at a time, a theory swiftly backed by her face suddenly brightening back into a huge smile. "But soons there will be more!"

"Pupmon..." Ranamon swallowed down a lump in her throat. Why did this feel so hard? This was her job. This was what she was meant to do. Why did it feel so _hard!_ "Pupmon, could you tell me all about your friends?"

"Sure!" Pupmon gave off an innocent smile, more than happy to be helpful; especially to someone her Aniki liked so much. "Well...you already knows everyone and Aniki, he's the most awesomest of them. But lessee...there's also Tatum and Leormon...they're super nice. Tatum is always really patie...pa...patient. Tanya said she's like a mommy to everyone, and she says a mommy is someone who looks after you. And Leormon is so funny! He likes to pounce on people and cuddle them just like me! An' when they evolve..."

Sitting back, Ranamon listened patiently, her mind sifting out the useless information from the useful as Pupmon rattled off everything she knew about the Nightmare Soldier. And as the in-training Digimon chattered on and on the knot in the rookie digimon's stomach grew tighter and tighter.

As this talk took place, some of those being discussed moved through the streets of Tsyunoinoichi. Lily kept one hand on Chad's shoulder to ensure she did not become separated or crash into any obstacles her horrific sight would hide from her, the youth handling the duty with the utmost care and diligence as if he were taking the role of knight with the utmost seriousness.

"Are you sure you don't want to stop off and buy a shirt, man? The whole bare chested thing is kind of distracting," Chad finally asked, his ability to keep quiet on the matter having reached its limit.

"I seem to be having terrible luck with them," Vincent replied, grinning weakly. "So I'm not sure if it would do me any good anyway. Besides, I want to get back to everyone quickly. Being separated is making me nervous, especially since we're only now..."

"Yeesh! Can you not go one moment without getting your gloom on?" Komodomon asked with a friendly elbowing thrown in. "Seriously. I should be keeping track of the number of trips you take to emo-town. You gotta be more upbeat like me and Eight. Not letting anything get you down. Right Leormon?"

"Umf-huh!" the lion cub concurred, with a mouthful of Komodomon's head.

"See. Saliva all over me and I handle it with grace." The lizard grinned, apparently undisturbed by the little lion's presence.

"I'm not sure that I would call that grace," Flamemon commented, looking a little disturbed by the way in which Komodomon was allowing himself to be slavered on as he carried his comrade around.

"What can I say? Kid's got jaws like a vice," Komodomon beamed in good humour.

"I understand Vincent's feelings," Lily spoke up. "As wonderful as our reunion is, it does serve to remind us that there are still so many missing. We don't even know if they safely made it to the digital world, or if they are somewhere safe within it..."

"Don't worry Lily," Chad said, clamping one hand down on hers. "I promised you that we'd find everyone didn't I? And I won't just protect you, but everyone else as well."

"I forgot how nauseating everyone else was...I truly hope they next people we encounter aren't so sickeningly hot-blooded..." Shademon hissed from Eight's shadow.

"See? Now that's positive thinking," Komodomon gave his best 'Fonz point' to Chad. "Blood hot enough to burn fire and claim any lady's heart!"

"Wha? I...uh..." Chad stuttered, suddenly releasing Lily's hand and looking very embarrassed.

"Vincent. Komodomon." The group froze as the unfamiliar voice spoke. Looking about no source seemed apparent to them, but the bustling crowd that filled the street seemed to be parting around them, isolating them.

"Chad? What's happening?" Lily asked her voice calm and her image serene.

"I'm not sure..." Chad confessed as the group reflexively began to form a circle.

"I see...Leormon." Lily spoke with a slightly commanding tone, prompting her partner to abandon Komodomon's back and dash to her side.

"You are Vincent and Komodomon, correct?" The voice spoke again as from the ground the white clad form of Shurimon emerged from the ground like some rapidly growing weed.

"Yes." Vincent stepped forward slightly, hand settling on his Digivice. "We are."

"Lord Gaiomon has requested the presence of you and your comrades...immediately." Shurimon moved into what seemed to be a respectful bow as two more of his kind emerged behind him.

"May we enquire as to what for?" Lily asked, her strong voice reminding everyone that she was an officer of the Nightmare Soldiers herself.

"He wishes to discuss both your journey, and the impending attack on this city. I'm afraid we must _insist_ that you accompany u-"

"Oh my god ninjas!" Eight suddenly interrupted, capturing everyone's attention. "Sorry, I was miles away." He gestured to the sky and his own head. "Why are there ninjas?"

"Fine..." Vincent nursed his temples, reminding himself that they really, really, _really_ needed Eight to get home, and that throttling him would be a violation of his ethics. "We'll meet with your Lord. So where is he?"

"Simply follow me." The Shurimon instructed, his two comrades swiftly moving to either side of the group and forming what was either their escort or their guards.

"Why do I never find your telling me not to worry reassuring?" Vincent shot his partner a glance.

"Experience?" Flamemon suggested as the red lizard sagged.

"Seriously. Why are there ninjas?"

* * *

The Nemure hotel was oddly subdued. The normally bubbly atmosphere of the enigmatic building was suppressed by the weighty presence of the Lord of Sincerity and his entourage who currently dominated one end of the long dining room table, his fearsome black armour making the red flowers on the table look very out of place. At the other end of the table Tanya sat looking nervous, Pupmon in her arms. The appearance of the master of Tsyunoinoichi had been sudden and his presence practically paralysed her, leaving her clinging to her partner as much to reassure herself as to comfort the small digimon. For his part B.B was doing his best to not look intimidated which was working, given he was largely looking confused. He constantly looked to Kotemon who stood by his seated lord. The masked digimon's glowing eyes did a good job conveying his apologetic feelings. Liz meanwhile stood by the door with Agumon, a faint scowl on their features, though for different reasons. For Liz it was frustration, a little unsure of how to deal with the current situation and a budding sense of anger over yet another problem occurring so soon. Agumon meanwhile, was just trying to look intimidating and was doing a surprisingly good job of it given how the Shurimon kept glancing in his direction, then looking away even faster. Ranamon looked like she was the most at ease, after Bulletmon of course, and it was a testament to her acting ability. Internally every alarm, big and small, was ringing through her as panic was kept under control by sheer force of will and calculated thinking. As an espionage opportunity this was an absolute gold-mine, but as with any great opportunity for spies and scouts alike it came with terrible risk.

'Ah was lucky to be counted as part of Komo-Komo's group,' she thought to herself, her red eyes passively sweeping over Gaiomon's (largely unnecessary) Shurimon bodyguards, the cautious part of her wondering where any more of them might be hiding. 'But if Gaiomon really can discern lies from truth Ah'll definitely be found out.' It was then that her stomach tightened, fear appearing with the guilt again. 'Why?' she asked herself. 'Why ahm Ah worryin' so much about them findin' me out? Why do Ah want them to think Ah'm on their side so badly?'

"KO-NEE-CHEE-WAAAA!!!"

"AAAAHHHHHH!!!"

At once everyone's heads turned to the door leading out into the front foyer as the simultaneous screams of the new arrivals ran through the building.

"It would appear that the rest of your companions have arrived," Gaiomon spoke up, giving a nod to one of his Shurimon who proceeded to stalk across the room, his coiled vine like limbs giving him rather awkward looking strides as he moved to open the door, revealing Vincent and the others, flanked by their own Shurimon guards.

"Took you long enough Vin...Tatum?" Liz's eyes widened on seeing the dignified young woman behind her friend, her bright yellow dress highly identifiable despite the wear and tear it had suffered. "Wow Vin we really lucked out on who you and Eight...where's Eight?" The blonde's face suddenly turned into a deadpan.

"We sort of...lost him when we got into the hotel," Vincent admitted sheepishly.

"You...lost him?" Agumon's brow picked up in confusion.

"Am I to understand that a member of your group has vanished?"Gaimon asked, looking equally confused despite his mask.

"Are you guys really ninjas?" B.B found himself asking the Shurimon, with Tanya hushing him for his sarcasm in the presence of the local ruler's armed guards.

"I'm sure he's fine," Komodomon waved it off, taking a seat beside Ranamon. "He just likes to try and be mysterious."

"My Lord Gaiomon, please forgive this failure," one of the Shurimon spoke as they all bowed.

"Tell me." Gaiomon pinned the group under his yellow eyes, a sensation which practically paralysed everyone in the room, a great pressure welling up on their hearts.

'The hell is this!?' Ranamon found herself supporting pushing against the table for support. 'Ah can't think straight...'

"This 'Eight' who is missing." Gaiomon continued. "Is his absence a reason for concern?"

"Not likely," Vincent answered without missing a beat. "He likes to act like he's an evil megalomaniac but he's little more than a prankster at heart. Like Komodomon said, he's probably just trying to be mysterious."

"I see." Gaiomon nodded, relaxing his gaze and the pressure in the room faded to the obvious relief of those within it.

'Well...this is going to be a stressful meeting,' Vincent thought to himself, taking a glance at Liz to reassure himself and one to Tanya to steel himself as he sat down. 'Might as well find out what this is all about.'

"So," he began placing his hands down on the table, fingers linked in a perfect imitation of his father's 'talk time' stance, "what can we do for you Lord Gaiomon?"

* * *

"You screamed."

"I did not."

"You totally screamed like some little girly mouse."

"I'm quite sure that you humans possess some none-major organs that I could remove for this insolence."

"Whatever Shadowblob," Eight continued to tease his partner, grinning at the annoyed glowing eyes. "I gotta say, nice timing on getting us out of there. Though was into the cupboard really the best you could manage?"

"I've rarely tried to move more than my own mass when in rookie form," Shademon reminded his human. "This was as far as I could manage before it felt like my back was being twisted in half," the virus type explained, sagging a little as he did so. It was hard to tell, but Eight could see the glowing eyes dip in the gloom and how weary they looked.

"Hey. You did good partner," Eight smiled, gently petting Shademon's head. Naturally it annoyed the hell out of the rookie, but he knew that his partner was showing a rare burst of sincerity and so let it pass.

"Damnit all," Eight scowled. "Even this close and he's affecting me. At least it confirms what I thought..." Eight mused, looking at his own hand in the dark.

"Why are you so nervous about meeting the Lord of Sincerity?" Shademon asked, getting his breath back.

"Sincerity is truth. Of sorts. I suppose it's more 'honesty of feelings,'" the hacker explained. "And this guy is the Lord of it. Which either means he's just so gosh darned honest that he can't help but tell his wife that she really _does_ look fat in that dress, or he's got the power to make others be that sincere."

"That's not exactly a lot to base your theory on," Shademon's eyes narrowed.

"It's the digital world. This place is pretty much magic in its truest form, and that means that names mean _a lot_. Nothing here is named without a reason, subtly tends to be lacking. Locomon is a locomotive, Shademon is a shadow, the Lord of Sincerity is the Lord of Motherlovin' Sincerity." The hacker cracked open the cupboard door, letting a thin edge of light into the cramped space and signalling to his partner that the cost was clear prompting them to make their break for the streets. Once safely buried in the crowds Eight began to breathe easily.

"What I don't understand though, is why that would be a problem," Shademon picked the conversation back up as his partner passively scanned the crowds, a whimsical smile on his face as he soaked up the sights of the Digimon filled city.

"He's not just the Lord of Sincerity," Eight resumed his explanation. "He's the lord of this city. And with all that's about to happen he'd ask questions about what we can do. And I can do a lot. And if I can't hide that he'd be far more likely to make us stay to help defend his home. And I can't allow that."

"Why not?" Shademon asked, indulging himself in a rare moment of curiosity.

Looking up to the dusk tinted sky Eight decided that he could write this all off later as lingering effects of being so close to the Lord of Sincerity than anything resembling affection or trust. Giving a long exhale he took his time in giving the simple answer to his partner's question.

"Because I need to get home. Beyond everything else I need to get home."

* * *

The outer fringes of the Labyrinth Forest were terrifyingly silent. At least that was the opinion of the Shurimon who did their best to keep themselves hidden on the outskirts of Tsyunoinoichi's natural defence. Kotemon had reported that the enemy was operating out of a colossal walking warship, and that they were close. So how they were failing to spot the thing was beyond them.

"Perhaps we should move out further?" one suggested to his comrade.

"The rock lands would provide little cover. We'd be best to only report when they reach the edge of the forest," the other responded. "We wouldn't do anyone any good if we found it and died without reporting back."

"And they call themselves ninjas," Cecil scoffed, looking at the pair on one of the monitors on XV's bridge, idly spinning his parasol in one hand and a flower in the other in a bored display of multitasking.

"The XV's stealth mode is perfect, tch," Yersinimon glared at his human companion.

"Per-fect!" Hagurumon sang in his synthesized sounding voice.

Sat upon his throne, Lucemon leered at his own view screen. The bridge was simpler in comparison to much of the rest of the great warship, stark black matched with stark white. Not as fancy as it could be, but the theme was clear and the Pride Lord felt that simplicity was best in the case of his bridge. He also considered this to be the case with his plan of attack and while his warship sat mere feet from the Labyrinth Forest, wholly invisible and unseen by the Shurimon who stood before it, he was growing impatient.

"I am growing tired of waiting," he scowled. "If the XV is so perfect, then why must we wait for this agent of yours?"

"Because perfection is not the same as invincibility, tch." Yersinimon turned his mask's black eyes on the Demon Lord. "A perfect thing in a world of imperfection is still vulnerable, tch. After all, by being imperfect one has a greater chance of being...surprising, tch. You would do well to remember tha..."

Suddenly Yersinimon found himself hauled from the ground, his neck held within Lucemon's tight, crushing grasp as the Pride Lord delivered a soul piercing stare to the dark scientist.

"Oh my," Cecil gasped in mock fear.

"Oh-my!" Hagurumon repeated, his cheery voice unfaltering.

"You would do well to remember who I am. I will listen to your advice but I will not tolerate being talked down to," Lucemon spoke in a voice devoid of wrath. Instead, it was a pure kind of cold as if he were stating the truest fact in the universe. Dropping the scientist back to his feet he stalked to his throne. "We shall wait. And if your agent does not respond soon I will ensure they are reprimanded myself."

"As you wish...Lord Pride, tch." Yersinimon bowed, his mask betraying nothing.

"Rep-Ri-Mand-Ed." Hagurumon sang. "As-You-Wish."

* * *

"So the long story short is you want to hire us as soldiers?" Liz's summarized, her face an excellent mask of neutrality, much easier to maintain now that Gaiomon's 'serenity force' wasn't in effect.

"Effectively," Gaiomon replied, a picture of serenity.

"We'll do it." Vincent's words drew in the attention of the whole table with understandably shocked looks and gasps.

"You can't be serious!" BB cried out, standing up and slamming his hands down on the table.

"Seriously?" Liz nearly gave herself whiplash as she turned to gawk at her friend.

"Za?" Pupmon titled her head.

"Naturally, I have conditions." Vincent fought to keep the image of his father in his mind. He had rarely seen the man working but his calm commanding presence in these faint a few memories was what he fought to emulate right now. Arms on the table and slightly crossed, posture straight, eyes fixing on the one person who needs to get the message most. "Firstly is that you are _not_ getting all of us. Only myself, Komodomon, Liz, Agumon Eight and Shademon. Everyone else is to be allowed to immediately leave Tsyunoinoichi."

"Bu-" BB began but he barely needed Bulletmon's restraining hand to call himself back. He had matured enough to tell this probably was not the best place for an outburst over being left behind and forced his indignation back down into his gut.

"I see." Gaiomon nodded his head. Vincent found himself joining BB in suppressing strong emotions as he kept down the urge to grin in triumph. Even with that great mask covering his head Vincent could see that the great lord of Tsyunoinoichi had already conceded to his demand despite his efforts to appear otherwise. The mask really should have been a large obstacle for reading the tall Digimon, but Vincent was used to players who had opted to wear obscuring headgear, or even players in older MMOs that didn't have the emote mask to help convey their feelings. It was nice to know that his time spent playing games was coming in handy. "What else?" Gaiomon asked, his voice heavy.

"If we succeed in defending Tsyunoinoichi then I would like to be able to requisition some of your forces to aid us in our quest." Vincent sensed Gaiomon's question before it was asked, "so that we may find our missing people and discover a way to return home. Though I assume that Kotemon has already told you about much of this."

"He told me your tale of being from another world, yes," Gaiomon nodded. "What else?"

"That is all," Vincent ended with a nod. Asking for less put him in a powerful position as it meant there was no space for his 'opponent' to try and weasel out of conditions. That he actually was unable to come up with a longer list was a fact he didn't bother to share.

"Very well," the Lord of Sincerity rose from his seat. "I will see to arranging transport for your companions. I will send one of my guards to inform you when they are complete. At which time I would like for you to come to my war room."

"Agreed," Vincent nodded back, rising himself and prompting the others to do so as Gaiomon left, all of the travellers watching as the towering mega and his ninja guards moved. Their eyes were either fixed hard or doing their best to look passive. As soon as they heard Monmon cheer her good-bye and the door slam Vincent collapsed back into his seat as BB exploded.

"Why are you sending me away?" BB slammed his hands down. "You know that Panzermon is like...is like...he's a fortress!"

"BB..." Vincent rattled, and it was only then that everyone noticed that the young man who had been their speaker was shaking and sweating, the calm decorum he had displayed earlier gone leaving behind the body of a tired and scared teenager who had just ordered around a powerful Lord. "Can I..." he stopped dead, realising he didn't actually know what he wanted. "I think I need a bath," he concluded as he wobbled back out of his seat. Disorientated he seemed to stagger out of the room towards the hot springs.

Vincent was not the only one feeling weak at the knees. Letting her door slam shut, Ranamon sank to the floor and clasped her hands to her eyes deep breaths rattling her slight frame. She hadn't been able to move until everyone else in the room was distracted and even then she had fallen completely into her 'stealth mode' and been as swift and silent as possible. Gaiomon's little 'truth' power was terrifying, and the way that Vincent and that new girl Lily hung on every word being said had not made her a comfortable little spy. And Gaiomon had made his case so perfectly clear, outlining the deficiencies in Tsyunoinoichi's forces and his hopes for utilizing the travellers and now she knew exactly which of them would be remaining to fight, and thanks to Pupmon and her own experiences she knew all of their abilities.

Yet there was more than that. Gaiomon had been careful to play on their consciences. Talking about the civilians, the people who would be unable to fight, how he had built up Tsyunoinoichi to protect Digimon from the terrors in the wild. Rising, she wandered over to her window and looked out at the steam filled town with its colossal walls keeping all dangers at bay. Paying attention she could even spot the Shurimon patrolling the streets, a constantly active police force that protected the inside of the town. How could its destruction be beneficial to their plans?

Stalking into the small en suite she twisted the metal knobs of the basin until she had a slow, steady stream of water flowing down into the basin, allowing her exact control of the water level. She knew that her caution was unwarranted as there was no specific amount necessary for her to use the water for communication but it was easier to tell herself she was being a perfectionist than to admit that she was just stalling, putting off the talk she now dreaded having with her superior. Placing her fingers upon the water she focused, feeling the hidden waterways of the world, the water flowing from tap, to basin, to sewer, to sea, to earth and sky and back again. Water joined all things in the world and through it she could reach anyone in the world.

"Ranamon your timing is impeccable, tch," Yersinimon's face appeared in the surface of the water in place of Ranamon's reflection. The black eyes of his expressionless mask seemed to burn into Ranamon's own red ones. "Lucemon is eager to begin his assault and as well as collecting any information from you that I can I have a task for you to perform before the attack can take place tch."

"Ah...Yes, Yersinimon," Ranamon found herself stuttering. "Sah, before that. Ah was hopin' Ah could ask you somethin'." Steeling herself she knew that she could not carry on until she had her question answered. "How would taking this city help us? What Ah mean to say is, why are we helpin' Lucemon destroy this place?"

For a few stomach twisting moments Yersinimon did not speak and the only sounds in the room were Ranamon's own breathing and the sounds of the water running down from the tap and splashing into the basin. The white mask of her superior betrayed no emotion, no sign of his thought process, at another time Ranamon might wonder if Yersinimon could even be affected by Gaiomon's power.

"In the scale of things, Tsyunoinoichi does not matter, tch," Yersinimon's voice was slow and deliberate. "Our goal is the death of Gaiomon, tch. Only by destroying the great powers of this world can be begin to bring it all into order, tch."

"But Tsyunoinoichi is..."

"A clean lily pad floating on a festering swamp, tch," Yersinimon interrupted. "Its survival or destruction means nothing in the face of our plan to rewrite the world in its entirety, tch. But what is necessary is the destruction of Gaiomon, tch," the dark doctor's voice turned harsh. "Now give me your report, tch!"

Her face wrinkling, Ranamon took a deep breath and pushed forward.

* * *

"So...we're going to war," Agumon mused as he slowly mastered the use of his tiny little tea-spoon.

"Yup," Komodomon nodded, balancing his on his nose, a lot easier for him than others given the size of his nose. "Going to defend a whole bunch of people we've never met before with our very lives."

"Gah!" Agumon growled as he managed to drop his spoon. "These things were not built for claws!"

"It's wonderful how you are able to focus on the big picture at times like this," Komodomon grinned.

"Meh," Agumon shrugged. "I fight. I _like_ to fight. Hell, I exist to fight!" Agumon was beginning to glare at his tea-cup as he continued to try and free his spoon. "And if I'm right we're going to be having a show-down with this Lucemon guy anyway."

"True. He is our current main antagonist, and we have all gotten to the ultimate level so we're even," Komodomon pondered, trying to drink his tea without dropping the spoon. "So it's pretty obvious that the climax of this arc has arrived."

"You talk to Eight too much," Agumon deadpanned.

The dining room was an odd mix of moods since Vincent had departed. Komodomon and Agumon were proving as unflappable as always and were facing the impending crisis and battle with apparent enjoyment. Lily and Flamemon, who had been the ones to propose ordering some tea, were the perfect image of calm and discussed the virtue of Nemure's tea and even the floral tea-cups as if it were an ordinary day. BB and Chad were discovering the compatibility in their attitudes as they both fumed over their effectively being told to runaway, and were soothing their egos by telling each other of their adventures so far in something of a boasting match. Bulletmon was doing his best to help his beloved 'Kaiser' to come out on top but the green digimon's stark honesty was occasionally a hindrance if BB had found himself embellishing his tales. Pupmon and Leormon were oblivious to any of the tension in the air as the lion cub batted the puppy ball around the floor like a large fluffy ball of yarn, the young pair giggling non-stop as they played as Pupmon was apparently finding the game to be hilarious.

Liz, meanwhile, was sat in her seat glaring at the path her friend had taken. Vincent's motives weren't too hard for her to decipher. She knew him well and despite the image she tended to project she was a very intelligent young woman. She also knew that right now the decisions he had taken would be eating her friend up inside. Not only because he was placing people in danger but because he would be feeling that he hadn't given enough to help defend Tsyunoinoichi. In short, she knew he was sulking. Again.

Naturally being the brilliant and devious mastermind that she was (even if she had to say so herself) she was composing a plan. A Vincent plagued by doubts and guilt was a vulnerable thing which would be a terrible thing for an enemy to take advantage of, but an oh-so-wonderful thing for a certain shy brunette to take advantage of. The girl in question had yet to touch her tea, leaving the fine china to sit and slowly and gently cool on the table as she stared at nowhere in particular, her eyes occasionally flickering around on some unconscious pathway, taking in none of the room before her. Pushing her chair back Liz stalked quietly towards her friend, the thrill of the hunt bubbling in her at the thought of causing a kind of mischief helped keep her own desire to brood at bay. With a predatory grin spreading on her face Liz dropped her hands down on Tanya's shoulders, startling the girl and swiftly gaining her attention.

"Hey Tanny," Liz applied just enough pressure for her current level of contact to count as a hug, partially because the doe eyes Tanya flashed her were making her feel a little guilty for startling her, "can I talk to you for a minute?"

Without giving her friend a chance to answer with little more than a 'zuh' Liz began to pull the poor girl from the room with part of her hoping no-one would realise that she was retracing Vincent's steps, another part thrilling at the scandal if someone did. Romantic fanfiction was something of a guilty pleasure of hers and she enjoyed the full run of flavours. From the well written plunges into the bonds between the characters to badly written smut and if she dwelled on it long enough she would likely put together the fact that her meddling in Tanya's romantic possibilities was essentially an effort to play out some of her preferred scenarios in reality. If Tanya knew about this she would be in a greater position to worry for her own safety as another of Liz's guilty pleasures was that she really did prefer those smutty stories.

"I wonder what she's up to?" Flamemon pondered aloud.

"It will be fun to ponder," Lily confessed with a sly smile.

"Um...Where are we going Liz?" Tanya asked with concern as the blonde continued to manoeuvre the brunette through Nemure's plush carpeted corridors.

"To see Vincent," Liz responded with her best Cheshire smile.

"But he's in the hot springs,"

"Yup," Liz's tone was such that Tanya was beginning to remember how bold her British friend could be.

"But we can't go in...in _there_ if he's in there!" Tanya objected with a hint of desperation.

"You're right." Liz stopped them both suddenly before the changing room door. "We can't go in there. Just you."

"Wha!?" Tanya burst with Liz taking advantage of the moment of surprise to swing the door open and bundle the American through.

"I can't...I can't..." Tanya repeated over and over, trying to push her way back to the door.

"Think of this as romantic encounter opportunity!" Liz beamed, the use of the 'r' word causing Tanya to seize up and go red for a few moments. "Look, he's going to sulk in there for a good long while and there's a fair chance he'll be sulking in the morning too. I figure that you taking advantage of being able to be alone to finally..."

"I can't..." Tanya continued, in a more sullen tone. She stopped struggling against her friend and settled for just leaning against her.

"Tanny?"

"You heard him...I'm not one of the ones he wants to be here. There's nothing I can do for him except make him worry," Tanya continued. "I'm useless...even Bob...BB has managed to grow and I'm still the same. I'm no use to anyone. I don't belong here. I'm just a small girl who should be hidden away selling cartons of apple juice..."

Were this fanfiction Liz would have been lapping it up. Nothing was a better indicator of a good, soppy romantic scene than one of the characters being wholly depressed by their own perceived inadequacies only to be reaffirmed by their beloved. Honestly she had actually been anticipating this reaction and had practically built her plan on it. Tanya's mood would no doubt pull Vincent of his, and the two would help re-affirm each other's worth and would provide an excellent opening to begin a romance.

"And he likes you..."

And that was an unexpected twist.

"WHAT!?"

* * *

"Does it make you worry at all?" Agumon suddenly asked as soon as Liz and Tanya were out of sight.

"Me? Worry?" Komodomon looked as indignant and comedic as he could manage. "I spit on worry! I boldly face the unseen dangers of the world and tell Vincent to do the same! What are we worrying about?"

"About when all this is over. When Liz and the others don't have any more battles to fight," Agumon explained, putting his tea-cup and saucer down in a rare admittance of defeat. "We haven't lived anywhere outside of the game world. What do we do when we aren't adventuring anymore...aren't battling anymore?" Agumon turned, fixing his large green eyes to his unaccepted brother. "What do I do the...the...thphbhahaahahaha!"

Going from snort to laughter the two lizard digimon clapped each other on the shoulder, Komodomon shakily putting his own tea down to keep himself from spilling it. He was now aware of the real reason why Agumon had put down his drink.

"I should have gotten suspicious faster man!" Komodomon grinned.

"Sounding philosophical like that was really hard," Agumon settled down into a chuckle.

"Trying to think beyond fighting sounded so strange coming from you."

"Well everyone's been doing the whole sulking thing lately. I figured I should give it a try." Agumon shrugged.

"Doesn't suit you man."

"Neither does being the funny man. But all this introspective, whining stuff was getting to me," Agumon confessed. "If I've got a big battle coming I want to get ready for it, not worry about the other stuff in my life. Speaking of, I'm going to go raid the kitchen. I can't exist on tea alone."

"You should order more sugar, like I do," Komodomon gestured to his tea cup where the drink looked more like sediment than liquid. "Want me to come with?"

"Thanks, but no thanks." Agumon waved as he began to walk off. "I've finished with my 'brotherly bonding' for the month."

"Ha! You admitted it!" Komodomon jabbed a finger at his brother.

"You made a good point earlier...about us and Agumon," the orange lizard thought of his more musical counterpart. "So I guess I'll put up with the title for now. Good night, little brother."

"Good night to you...wait, who you callin' little brother? Who decided that?" Komodomon called with mock fury as Agumon smirked on his way to the kitchen. 'That little belly crawler is getting sharper by the day. Digital World's been good for him,' the red lizard thought to himself as he slurped up his sediment-like-tea. 'But speaking of folk being introspective Ranamon sure ran off fast when the meeting ended. I better go make sure she's alright. It's because of us that she keeps getting caught up in these messes.'

Setting the now empty tea-cup down Komodomon found little reason to excuse himself from the room as everyone was (tragically) too preoccupied to take note of his exit. While Nemure was exactly as he remembered it he did have to make a quick check with Monmon to find out which room Ranamon was staying in this time. Quite honestly he looked forward to Eight getting back so he could ask about the physics involved for a hotel apparently being in multiple places at once, but right now there was a young lady whose condition interested him far more.

"Rana-Rana?" he called as he knocked on the door with less tact that he probably should have displayed given his intent, the loud thumping of his scaled knuckles on wood resounding down the corridor 5 or so decibels shy of the effort Lupmon would have made.

"Komo-Komo?" Ranamon almost timidly checked, creaking the door open just enough to let her peek out at her red scaled friend.

"Hey Rana-Rana," Komodomon found his words getting jumbled in his gut. He wasn't used to trying to talk delicately and the effort was screwing up his usual, highly figurative, hot blooded method of handling things. "I just wanted to make sure that you're alright. It seems we've managed to get you lumped in with us in all of this and..."

"Ah'm alright Komo," Ranamon assured. "Ah'm jus' a little tired is all. Ah'm just gonna get mahself to bed."

"Umm...alright. Just let me know if you need anything."

For a brief moment Ranamon let the door close and Komodomon began to turn away before Ranamon called out to him.

"Um...Komo-Komo...Just one thing."

"Yes, Rana-Rana?" Komodomon turned eagerly.

"If..." Ranamon found herself clutching the door tightly as if it were some kind of life line as she got her nerves under control. It took only a moment this time, the feelings Komodomon stirred in her were not the same as the sheer terror Yersinimon was capable of inspiring and her disciplined soul was able to keep her composure under this kind of pressure. "If ah chose to stay in spite of the danger, would you protect me?"

"With my life," Komodomon answered without hesitation.

"Thanks." Ranamon gave a simple smile and closed the door, leaving Komodomon to wander off. It was only when she heard his carpet cushioned footsteps reach the stairs back to the lobby that she allowed her composure to fail her and sank down to the floor and huddled, curling into herself. Her face was blank and she stared at nothing, too many feelings bubbled inside her and fought to get out. All she could do was try to reassure herself that she had done the right thing.

* * *

The hot spring was exactly as Vincent remembered it from his last stay in Nemure. Now that the stress of the meeting was over he was able to sit back, relax, and distract himself from the crushing terror and paranoia with inane thoughts like how the hell Nemure could be here. Speaking of paranoia though, he was sure that these flowers were new. Continuing his desperate bid to keep his mind off current events he fixed the red blooms with a critical eye, moving side to side as if to test to see if they would follow him. He really wasn't keen on the idea of some secret flower cam trying to spy on his naughty bits when he was in the bath. The thought, such a basic and silly worry, made him smile. The thought of 'seeing eye flowers' was the sort of nonsense the digital world was capable of, and the sort of thing which made it all so appealing.

"Vincent?"

"AHHHHHHHH!!!" Vincent screamed, snapped from his mental wanderings and amusing paranoia by the female voice which had the brutally sobering effect of reminding him that he'd left his towel lying at the side. Something he was now scrambling for as if his life depended on it. "Liz!" he gasped as he pushed the towel down over his lower region. "Wh-What do you want?" he whirled to face the fully clothed girl.

Liz looked, he noted, very out of character. Her fidgeting and her unconfident, nervous stance made her look a lot more like the meek Tanya than her normal fiery self. Even her hair was left hanging in a Tanya-esque mess as opposed to her 'thrown back and adventurous' look.

"I...I just wanted to check on you...make sure you were alright," she confessed in a tone one part nervous, one part embarrassed. "You ran out kinda fast and it kind of got me worried," she did a good job of avoiding looking at her naked friend as she spoke.

"Y-yeah. I'm good," Vincent replied, finding himself blushing more than expected and pushing out thoughts on Liz looking 'cute' that were trying to replace thoughts out how out of character her current demureness was. "Just building up the guts to go in there and face the 'twenty million' questions."

"O-okay," Liz nodded. "Tanya's going to want to know why she's being sent away you know."

"I know," Vincent nodded, hoping the redness of his face would be taken for the effects of the springs. "Part of me wants more here, but finding the others is our priority. Tanya's a wonderfully warm and caring person. Lily's going to need someone to help her look after everyone they find, and she's smart. They'll need that to balance out BB and Chad being hot headed."

"It...it sounds like you really like her," Liz was now very much looking away.

"Yeah, well, that is...she is...um...Can I just drown myself now?" Vincent asked, the picture of conflicted, confused and a man kicking all at once.

"I'll just let everyone know you'll be back soon," Liz turned to exit, plodding away to the door.

For a moment Vincent tried to call after her, but found that his entire brain was now a hot bed of adolescent rumblings that choked all effort to even work out what he thought, let alone what he wanted to say. In fact, the blinding force in his brain was such he was almost glad to turn it to the problems he had once been trying to ignore in order distract himself from the maelstrom Liz had begun in his mind.

In the changing room Liz slowly clicked the door shut before sweeping her hair back from her face, letting her fiery look reassert itself once more as she fixed her eyes on a now red and flustered Tanya.

"Th-that proved nothing!" the brunette protested before her friend even got a word out.

"Suuuure it didn't," Liz responded childishly, her own feelings on the matter well hidden beneath her confident look.

* * *

The lighting in Yersinimon's make-shift lab was coming purely from his wide collection of monitors and diodes, turning the whole of the hanger bay into something of an eerie cybernetic catacomb. Stood before his two recovering patients, Yersinimon was venting his frustration upon the two by subjecting them to a battery of 'tests'. Being a digimon of science, there were of course actual useful information he could obtain from the many volts of electricity he was blasting through their bodies as well as the other horrible things he was twisting them with. Being therapeutic was merely an excellent side-effect of their screams.

"Bitter much?" Cecil asked, taking a deep wiff of his flower whilst using his parasol as a prop, as if he were actively trying to cultivate a sillier image for himself.

"Lucemon is a fool, tch," Yersnimon punctuated his speech with another bolt of electricity. "It frustrates me that we are relying on this fool so much, tch!"

"Relax. It's only a stage," Cecil grinned. "One I have a feeling will soon be over."

"Soon-be-ov-er!" Hagurumon repeated.

With that, he tossed the flower to his masked colleague who stopped in his torturous experiments a moment to look at the small item, any way to judge his response to the action completely hidden by his white mask. When the moment had passed he once more channelled the twisted energy through his test subjects, surrounding himself with their screams once more.

"EYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

* * *

**Raven: **Update time! And you thought we were ignoring you.

I, of course, have seen this latest chapter in every iteration, slowly being constructed and developed into the shining gem it is. So I've known it's been here, and we have just been working on it.

Eight Ball continues to be awesome. Eight Ball could probably beat every baddy single-handedly if he had any real interest in doing so. Man, I can't wait to unveil who Eight Ball actually is. It's gonna blow your mind, I guarentee it. Eight Ball. Don't you love just saying Eight Ball. Don't you love saying Eight Ball? Try it, try saying Eight Ball. Eight Ball. Makes you feel better, doesn't it? All by just saying Eight Ball.

Yeah, I didn't have much going into these notes. We had to do a lot of work polishing this chapter, and it led to more work on the overall plot of the story. Sometimes, I wonder if we'll have anything set for the end of this story. But, that makes it half the fun, right? You don't know what we'll do! We're craaaaaazy!

**Keyo: **So we said monthly update and were then quite in Febuary.

The reason for this is that my trusted Laptop, Lappy, upon whom I have written 47 chapters of this fanfiction, died. I ordered a new one (Lappy 2.0) but Parcel Force sucks and didn't send it for ages. Because they suck.

Once again thanks to L-O for proof-reading this chapter for me, and educating me on how I'm meant to be doing speech. Seriously, I'm an English student who did a creative writing course and I don't know the rules for writing dialogue. I'm also considering changing my little line breaks. fanfiction(.)net hates them along with some examples of speech...

See y'all next month where I get to trade in all this drama for HOT BLOODED ACTION!

Also 'woo over 9000'.


	49. Chapter 49

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Chapter 49: The Morning Brings... Part 1

War.

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The morning smelt wonderful.

It was a strange first thought, but it was true. With the morning sun beaming in through the window Tanya could not help but give a long, appreciative sigh and squiggled around for optimum comfort before finally giving a long fully body stretch that ended with her collapsing in a floppy, sleepy heap. It was then that her hand felt idle and she realised that Pupmon hadn't decided to play the fluffy alarm clock and lick her into awake-ness. Letting her eyes flutter open she cast a dull glance about the room to seek out her partner. It initially unnerved her a little bit to not see Liz's sleeping face at the other side of the room. The longing for what had become a familiar and comforting sight on this journey to the other side of reality was quickly swept away by the memory of the sheer embarrassment she had suffered last night and prompted her to curl back into her blanket with a growl.

'Stupid Liz!' she mentally cried. 'What she did last night didn't answer anything! She just...I...argh!'

Burying her face in her optimally fluffed pillow the brunette gave off a muffled cry of frustration before sighing at the realization that her earlier cosy, sleepy state was now ruined. Which was odd, she realised, given it was normally Pupmon who would take it on herself to ruin the peace of the morning.

"Pupmon?" she asked, sitting up. It wasn't any real reason to worry, she told herself, but it was a speciality of hers. Her concerns that her small partner were quashed as the bubble of fur was flopped down at the end of the bed, her breathing rhythm combining with her spherical form to make her look like a continually inflating and deflating balloon. "He he. Fuzzy!" she giggled, taking a swift burst of fuzz therapy to restore her appreciation of the morning. Having tummy rubbed herself back to happiness Tanya curled up against her partner and let sleep pull her back into peaceful oblivion.

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"We have a report in, sir. The contagion has been released into the city," a helicopter-esque Digimon announced, kneeling before Lucemon as he spoke.

"So Yersinimon's agent has finally made her move," Lucemon grinned, feeling his muscles tighten with the anticipation of combat. Standing, the Lord of Pride took a moment to savour the way that this simple action suddenly brought to his command the attention of the entire bridge. There was not a Digimon on his ship who was not gripped by the very power of his presence. Unfortunately this moment of appreciation was diluted by the realization that he did not have the attention of everyone. With his feet up on a console and his parasol idly spinning as it rested on his shoulder Cecil continued to hum some inane tune from the human world with his cog-like partner awkwardly chipping in two beats behind. Scowling at them he contemplated taking the higher ground. After all, he was the Lord of Pride, not Wrath; surely he could have an abundance of patience for the lesser beings dirtying this world. Of course, even if it was without representative, patience was a virtue and he most certainly was not. With a snap of his fingers Lucemon brought his will to his ship and watched with a dark satisfaction as the chair currently occupied by the insolent human came alive with long, hideous spider legs that closed around the young man, pinning him tight. With a gut wrenching cacophony of creaks the chair began to bend over backwards, forcing Cecil to arc his back in order to avoid a broken spine. Lucemon found the Exvee's distracting dalliance in creating eyes and drooling fangs at the head rest more than tolerable.

"Gentleman," Lucemon continued, acting as if nothing had happened. Powerful beings did not need to acknowledge their lesser, only punish them. "Conditions are now ripe for our assault. No more lying in wait, shed the chameleon layer and engage full attack mode!"

There was a resounding chorus from the bridge crew, an eager response that easily drowned out Cecil's unenthusiastic utterance of 'whoop-de-doodle' and his partner's repetition of the phrase.

Outside, the two Shurimon had maintained their vigilance. Their plant-like nature had several benefits when it came to holding long vigils and with the right sapping of nutrients they had easily been able to stave off the need for sleep. The peace of their watch was destroyed as the forest suddenly began to rumble and the air before them distorted, giving way to reveal the colossal Exvee battleship. Its long arachnid legs were sunk into the earth and its nine heads blocked out the sun. There was scarcely even time for the pair to cry out in surprise before the great warship began to move, rushing forward and ploughing into the trees. For a moment one of the Shurimon felt they had miraculously survived as they landed on the forest floor, the great legs of Exvee rushing overhead. But this relief was crushed and he saw shapes arc down from the sky, missiles designed to set the forest ablaze.

"Lord Gaiomon..." the ninja uttered in despair at his failure before the monstrous blaze set loose in the Labyrinth Woods consumed him too.

0000000

Sat in Nemure's dining room Vincent munched peacefully on a plate of toast. There was something wonderfully therapeutic about it he had always believed. There was a part of him that felt a burning desire to wax poetically about toast, the beauty of its simplicity and the warmth it spread to his belly, but being toast it was rather impossible to wax poetically about. So he settled for more of this munching peacefully business.

"Morning!" Chad chirped as he strode into the room, his black hair an even greater mess due to the wonders of sleep. "Still shirtless I see," he quipped before drawing in a deep lungful of the morning air. "Something sure smells great!" he smiled. "Where's the food?"

"Monmon doesn't seem to be up yet," Vincent explained. "The kitchen isn't locked, so if you want to make some toast for yourself, go ahead."

"Okay...wait," Chad paused mid-stride. "You made toast? Aren't you meant to be a really good cook? Where's the bacon and eggs? The pancakes? The blood pudding?"

"I happen to like having toast for breakfast, and why would I make blood pudding for breakfast?"

"Because you're British?" Chad raised an eyebrow, receiving a hard stare in return. "Too much stereotype?"

"Waaaay too much. Flamemon not up yet?"

"Nope," Chad called as he revelled in the simplicity of genius that was the toaster. "I just came to get Lily and Leormon their breakfast."

"I'm surprised that he and Pupmon aren't up and raising hell already," Vincent confessed, joining his comrade in the kitchen as he proceeded to wash his dishes.

"Yeah...Leormon's not one for letting the morning go to waste." Chad agreed.

"Komodomon's hatred of mornings must be rubbing off on everyone." Vincent joked before he and Chad were made to wince as the kitchen door was thrown open and slammed against the back wall.

"Agumon isn't waking up!" Liz shouted as she barged in.

"L-Liz!" Vincent found himself going red as a few hormones and memories tried to overrule his thinking process.

"KO-NEE-CHEE-WA!"

Everyone jumped suddenly as the loud cry filled the room, though not in Monmon's typical high-pitched voice.

"Now!" Eight continued as he suddenly entered in behind Liz. "Why haven't any of us heard that little cry this morning?"

"Eight!"

"Where have you been?"

"When did you get back?"

"That's right!" the hacker continued completely ignoring his audiences' actual responses. "Because, like all of your partners, like every Digimon in this city, she's asleep," he explained, setting up the coffee machine with as full a load as it could manage, before setting a kettle to boil as he realised that one pot would be insufficient.

"How do you know that everyone..." Chad began, only to be cut off by a visibly shaking Eight.

"I spent my whole night on the streets watching the world fall asleep around me and never waking up. Incidentally I spent the whole night drinking coffee in a bar so I am very, very wired right now and in imminent danger of crashing. So I need to keep drinking more coffee. BOIL FASTER!" he cried at his boiling orchestra. "As for what _caused_ it, smell the air. Do you smell that? Even stronger than my glorious, wonderful all too slow boiling-instant coffee my sweet shiny ass!" he slammed both his hands down on the counter-top causing everything to shudder and everyone to jump, which created a pause that was soon filled by the kettle's whistle and the beep of the instant coffee maker. "Sorry!" Eight exclaimed, waving his hands in the air and setting to finishing up his blends and filling a pair of thermos. "Anyway, that smell, that sweet, sweet smell, is what's causing everyone to sleep! Someone's filled this city with something that put everything that's a Digimon and breathes to sleep."

"We think it's something in the water," Shademon joined in, suddenly melting into the room. "This city is full of steam, so it would be one of the best ways to spread the toxin through the air."

"Any questions?" Eight beamed, clipping the pair of thermos to his belt and swigging the dregs of the instant coffee straight from the pot.

"How is Shademon still awake then?" Liz asked, gesturing to the black shadow Digimon.

"I don't breathe," the virus type responded without missing a beat.

"Where did you get the thermoses from?" Chad asked, pointing to the offending articles.

"Must you try and pick at every, single, dangling plot thread?" Eight cried, slamming the glass pot down on the counter-top, shattering it instantly. "Fargus!" he hollered in response. "Anything more relevant?"

"Pardon mah intrusion, but ah think you should ah'll come outside and see this," Ranamon politely intruded.

"How is Ranamon still awake?" Vincent offered up.

"What did I just say about plot threads?" a flustered Eight began to push his way through his allies and out of the kitchen. "Come on. I'm betting on imminent doom!"

Eight had been right about the city being asleep. As the six of them ran outside they found a good few Digimon lying asleep on the ground and several steam stacks were either pumping out too much or had shut down completely due to their staff having stopped dead. The streets, however, were not silent. A loud thumping was filling the air, a pounding 'bwuda-bwuda-bwuda': the sound of an approaching helicopter.

"Imminent doom, hooooooo!" Eight called, pointing to the rapidly approaching shape that was the Exvee battleship. "And, y'know, prelude to our imminent doom ho," he moved his finger up to the smaller sky-born shape.

"What's the plan Vincent?" Liz asked, turning her eyes to her childhood friend and effective leader.

"The plan hasn't changed," Vincent asserted. "Chad. Ranamon. Get Tanya, BB and everyone else and get out of here. We'll take care of the city."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Eight interjected. "You want just us four to take down that great big battleship thingy!"

"First off, we're not taking down that 'big battleship thingy', you and Shademon are."

"What!" Eight exclaimed. "Not Booboo and Panzermon? You know that Panzermon is like...is like...he's a fortress!"

"Like the challenge doesn't excite you," Liz smirked.

"Well..." Eight shrugged, doing his best to look humble and failing epically.

"Second, it's not going to just be the four of us," Vincent continued, drawing out his Digivice. Closing his eyes he pulled on that place deep in himself, feeling the energy rush through him as he focused on what he wanted to achieve, the strength that they would need. "Our parnter's aren't ordinary Digimon. In the game world any status effect a Digimon was suffering under could be dispelled by player induced evolution. Just because I no longer have the stat modifiers, doesn't mean I can't help him!" the glow around his body flared up, becoming a burning flame of red energy that began to funnel into his Digivice, sending it wild with activity, his cry mirroring the words on its small LCD screen.

"ULTIMATE EVOLUTION!"

For a moment there was nothing, and then a bright red light blazed up through the roof of Nemure, accompanied by a mighty roar.

"...CLAYDRAKEMON!" the armoured ultimate roared to the sky as he burst into the sky with his evolutionary light, roof shingles and masonry trailing behind him.

"Flash," Eight smirked, already topping himself up from a thermos.

"Dude! What the hell?" ClayDrakemon bellowed at his partner as he landed, his wings collapsing back into his flowing cape. "Disturbing my sleep and causing collateral damage? What's gotten into you?"

"Imminent doom," those already assembled pointed to the horizon.

"Ah fisk."

"Any of you guys ever seen 'Apocalypse Now'?" Eight suddenly called back everyone's attention. "Because I've got a guess at what that guy's job is now," he pointed up to the helicopter like Digimon, just as great spears of fire rained down from him, causing great walls of flame to engulf the city.

"ClayDrakemon..." Vincent ground out through gritted teeth, restraining the rage that the slaughter preformed and to come was stirring in him.

"I know partner," ClayDrakemon growled his own response. "Ranamon, take care of yourself," he looked to the frog girl for a moment before seizing up his partner with one gauntlet clad claw and bursting into the skies.

"Well. I better go and save all of our asses," Eight proclaimed, taking another big swig of coffee and slamming the thermos cup back into place. "Shademon! Transform and roll out!" he cried, charging off towards the battleship in the distance with his partner slinking down into his shadow.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Chad asked as he watched Eight's somewhat crude charge, which was hampered by his coffee induced jitters.

"Yeah. He'll be fine," Liz shrugged. "C'mon, we need to rouse everyone and find someone big enough for me to punch."

"You really don't have to do that you know,"

"We really don't have time for me to 'find myself' right now. So we do it my way. Smashy-Smashy," she proclaimed, charging back into the hotel, Chad and Ranamon in tow.

0000000

**Apachemon**

**Level:** Ultimate

**Type:** Vaccine

**Attacks:** Napalm Dawn, Tomahawk Missile, Rotor Spirit.

"Okay, what's a 'Rotor Spirit' when it's at home?" ClayDrakemon asked his partner as they soared towards their opponent.

"Best guess? Propellers are used to create cutting winds," Vincent speculated. "How are we gonna handle this?"

"Don't worry, I've got a plan," ClayDrakemon smirked, providing absolutely no time for his partner to respond before unceremoniously dropping him.

Really, there was no shame in the fact that Vincent screamed. Maybe because it was such a girly scream, but there was little wrong with screaming as you hurtle through the air. The screams were cut short as he slammed down on the balcony that spiralled up and around one of the steam stacks. Bouncing along it he was brought to a sharp halt as he slammed into the surrounding the barricade, the air being blasted from his lungs with the final impact and, rather than dramatically spring back to his feet, he lay curled up in a battered heap.

"Ow," he grunted before moaning in pain awhile longer.

"Maybe I could have executed that better..." ClayDrakemon pondered aloud as he felt Vincent's pain resound through his body like some kind of brutal pinball analogy.

"Tomahawk Missile!"

Attention sharply pulled back to his current opponent, ClayDrakemon swung up his massive sword and blocked the two spinning axe-blades, the flames that gushed from their jets spraying up in his face before they flew back to their owner.

"So not everyone fell under the sleeping spell. Wonderful! I was afraid that this little blitzkrieg would be all I would get to do!" Apachemon crowed, the rotor-blades that formed his head-dress quivering with excitement.

"What's with you pride guys and being full of blood lust?" ClayDrakemon asked as he swooped into combat range, sword sparking against rotor-blades as the two began their aerial duel. The dragon-knight read his opponent as fast as he could, trying to work out which rotor-blades were used for offense and which were for flight.

"Do you really think you can out-fly me, you clunking reptile?" Apachemon jeered as he performed an aerial flip, taking advantage of his greater manoeuvrability to get up and over his foe. His intentions were simple: to slice apart the red-cloak wings that kept ClayDrakemon airborne.

"Don't really care to try," ClayDrakemon responded, his wings turning back to limp cloth and tangling in the propellers before ejecting from his back. Whirling around ClayDrakemon seized onto the end of it and pulled him in close, punching, kicking and kneeing him over and over, destabilizing his flight and causing them both to fall from the sky.

"I really hate his plans..." Vincent groaned as he pulled himself up on the railing.

"I will wring the life from you!" Apachemon declared, managing to get his hands about ClayDrakemon's neck as they continued to hurtle haphazardly through the air.

"No chance," ClayDrakemon grinned in response as his cloak, tangled as it was, burst back into being wings. The force of the transformation tore through Apachemon's propellers and arm, causing the helicopter Digimon to scream in agony and reel back as the red wings re-attached themselves to ClayDrakemon's back. Freed from his opponent's grip ClayDrakemon pressed his advantage, breaking from his previous pummelling strategy and seizing Apachemon by his remaining hand and throwing him downward.

"You wretch!" Apachemon cried as he struggled to stabilise himself. "I can still fl..."

His words were brutally cut short as ClayDrakemon performed his descent. Wings returned to their cloak state he let himself enter a freefall dive straight at his opponent, claymore held straight out with the express intent to impale. Eyes going wide Apachemon tried to bring his remaining arm up to guard, beginning to cry 'Rotor Spirit' but the blade drove home, slamming through the centre of the rotor and into Apachemon. With both arms gone and the falling weight of ClayDrakemon crashing down upon him Apachemon began to hurtle straight down into the ground, the massive sword pinning him to the street.

"You're really not much compared to Grademon, are you?" ClayDrakemon smirked.

"Y-you...you..." Apachemon began to snarl, his pride mixing with wrath at not only being compared to a defeated comrade, but viewed as less. He was kept from trying to articulate this as ClayDrakemon slammed their skulls together with a brutal headbutt, his armoured helm proving more stable than whatever it was that made up Apachemon's body as the dark substance cracked and splintered from the force.

"I wish he wouldn't do that..." Vincent moaned as the pain from the rather impractical method of attack found its way back to his own head.

The small skirmish was swiftly washed from his mind as a thunderous crash filled the air. Looking up Vincent received his first look at the Exvee battleship, just as horrid and twisted as Yasyamon and Kotemon had described it to be. Cannons had risen upon its deck and were firing upon the wall whilst the horns that spiked up at seeming random unleashed arcs of lightening, the great armoured spider legs crushing to dust the rubble of the once great wall. The pipes strewn through the deck were shaking now as the ship went into full battle mode, the rushing of the disturbing fluid within now loud enough to deafen anyone on deck. But even those sounds were drowned out as the seven heads sang. The song was at once melodious and horrendous, like an aria sung by heaven's own choir and someone scrapping the exposed rib-cage of a dying cat down a chalkboard.

"Holy fsked up monstrosities, Shademon! How does the Big V expect us to defeat this thing?" Eight cried to his partner as they continued their mad dash towards the base of the battleship. Shademon didn't actually respond, for while he could see his partner's lips flap the 'singing' easily drowned out even his loud mouth. Naturally a lack of response didn't stop Eight from carrying on. "Well it's a good thing I'm hyped up on coffee, otherwise I'd be overwhelmed by how suicidal this all is. Tally-Ho!"

0000000

"Vincent thinks just three humans and three Digimon can defeat that thing!" Chad cried out as Exvee began it rampage through the city.

"Well...it is _those_ six," Tatum demurely commented. "They may not always get along, but I'm sure that together they can overcome this."

"I don't think vaguely alluding to their strength changes the fact that that's a war-machine of mass destruction with a demon lord inside of it," BB grumbled. "And if the Digimon inside it are anything like Grademon and Rapidmon then Lucemon won't even have to get up!"

"And Liz can't even make Agumon Digivolve unless she hits something!" Tanya joined in. "We can't just let them try and handle this on their own."

"Kaizer, as much as I appreciate and agree with the Lt. Colonel's plan I feel that under the current circumstances, to maximise our objectives we are best to join the battle. Especially since remaining crouched and stealthy as Panzermon is extremely difficult," the fortress Digimon joined in. Awkwardly cramped, his legs were in traction mode but rather than roll he struggled to perform a kind of crab walk with his towering body and turret cannon head bowed round in a painful arc to keep him beneath the height of the buildings.

"I don't think stealthing around is going to work much longer, and my legs are killing me!" BurningGreymon hissed. Truly his red armour and great orange wings were not suited for sneaking around and whilst he wasn't a towering behemoth like Panzermon, his obvious size and colours made being stealthy a difficult and rather painful process.

"Sorry buddy," Chad placed a hand on his partner's leg. "But unless we got you up to Ultimate you couldn't move at all."

"I like being LoaderLemon!" the large mechanical part lion, part industrial digger with a spiked mace for a tail that had been Leormon beamed.

"That's LoaderLiomon, sweetie," Tatum corrected, affectionately scratching at the colossal drill that made up her partner's mane.

"I still can't get Pupmon to evolve..." Tanya sighed, looking down at her diminutive partner.

"You're not the only one feelin' a might useless," Ranamon placed a hand on Tanya's arm.

"BB, what're you doing?" Chad suddenly hissed, catching sight of the younger walking off towards the centre of chaos.

"Vincent made his plan up because he thought they'd be fighting along with a full army," the young human spoke up. "But if everyone in this city is asleep...then they're all going to get killed..." he trailed off, recognising the pain in his gut from the HoneyBeemon hive, his refusal to be helpless when there were others trying so hard to protect everyone. "Even...even if all I can do is give strength to Bulletmon...I..."

Finding his legs shaking and his words turning to stammers BB jumped and felt a bolt of shame run through him at the fear he felt as more explosions rattled off in the distance.

"I understand, Kaiser," Panzermon nodded his weighty head before straightening up to his full height. "With the strength you have given me we'll protect everybody."

"If only we knew how to wake everyone up," Chad butted in. "Then the whole city could run, or help fight. Eight said that a smell was causing it..."

"Panzermon, I'm not sure you should stay standing like that," Tanya called up to her colossal friend.

"Isn't deciding..." Chad began, but was cut off as a giant bullet slammed into Panzermon, bowling him over. "Oh yeah...the whole 'not letting the doom ship spot the giant gun tower digimon thing'."

"Panzermon! Are you alright?" BB cried as he ran to his partner's side, the large ultimate slowly and awkwardly trying to right himself.

"I have sustained minimal damage Kaiser," Panzermon assured. "I will simply require a moment to right myself," he practically grunted the last part, his giant machine gun limbs were not exactly designed for pushing his bulk upright.

"S'cool...don't bother getting up," a new voice spoke out.

"I see that the putrid pair who destroyed Grademon are not amongst you. I fear that my blade will feel unsatisfied with your deaths," a second voice arose.

Lying but a few feet from the group was the colossal bullet that had slammed into Panzermon. The large, burnt up and dented shell of metal had a hatch now thrown wide open allowing the occupants to step out, making the 'bullet' more of a capsule.

**SkullMeramon**

**Level:** Ultimate.

**Type:** Data

**Attacks: **Metal Fireball, Flame Chain.

**Knightmon**

**Level: ** Ultimate

**Type: **Data

**Attacks: **Electric Slash, Armour Knife, The Duel.

"They're kind of similar, aren't they?" BurningGreymon sighed as his partner and BB promptly scanned the new arrivals.

"I find their enthusiasm encouraging," Tatum smiled in response.

"Hey! What's the big deal looking for Vincent and Komodomon?" B.B burst out in indignant protest. "Me and Panzermon were the ones who took down Black Rapidmon!"

"I do not believe that you understand child," Knightmon turned his eyes down towards the young boy. "Since I have been in Lord Lucemon's service I have always considered Grademon to be something of a rival of mine, and his death at the hands of another has robbed me of the opportunity to prove myself his superior. However, I thank you for your honesty and shall deliver appropriate punishment for your transgress-"

"HEAT VULCAN!"

As swiftly as Knightmon had moved to draw his colossal sword, BurningGreymon had been far swifter on the draw. The fiery barrage bore down upon the knight, each shot exploding upon impact and bowling him over.

"Man you talk too much," Chad scowled as he stood by his partner.

"B.B! Get out of there!" Tanya cried as SkullMeramon began to lunge forward, his burning hot body completely ignoring BurningGreymon's shots.

"DRILL RUSH!" Loaderliomon cried as he ploughed into the burning behemoth, his drill mane having encased his head for full protection. The force of his tackle drove Metalmeramon back into the side of the capsule he had emerged from.

"Private Bradford, do you truly believe that you and Panzermon can help in stopping that war machine?" Tatum asked in a stern commanding voice that stood out so differently from her normal soft and kind one.

"Y-yeah. I do," B.B nodded, suppressing his body's urge to shake and shudder.

"Then as a lieutenant-colonel of the Nightmare Soldiers I order you both to go and assist in bringing it down. We will take care of these two! Private Mills, I want you to try and determine what is causing the populace to sleep, or try and locate some assistance!"

"R-right!" Tanya nearly jumped.

"Miss Ranamon, I apologise, but we can escort you no further," the kindly officer's voice returned a little to its softer state.

"Ah think Ah'd rather stick with Miss Tahnya," the frog Digimon interjected. "With her pahtnah still asleep there's no-one to watch her back. Not to mention ah don't feel like tryin' to run from this city on my lonesome."

"Very well then. Everyone, you have your orders! Move out!"

"I gotta say dude...s'not cool..." With a gut wrenching roar, SkullMeramon hauled LoaderLiomon away from his body and into the air before hurling the mechanical beast down the street and through a building or two. "S'not cool at all..."

"Do you truly believe that such as this can halt me?" Knightmon grunted as he managed to bring his shield around, letting it soak up the rounds from Heat Vulcan as he began his steady advance.

"G-Good luck!" Tanya shouted as she began to run.

"Don't lose to these punks!" B.B shouted to Chad.

"You just tear that battleship apart," the older boy smirked back.

"We will," Panzermon grumbled under his breath.

And all the while, Ranamon just kept her eyes focused on Tanya's back, telling herself over and over that she had no choice.

0000000

**Keyo:** How do you apologise for not updating for two years? I'm really not sure what I should be saying. How many people who read this then are still here now? How on earth did CrazyEight and NoRatCat not lose the will in trying to see if I was dead or not?

What happened?

Well...I'd say life, but that would be cheap. 49 was actually started all those years ago...and I HATED it. Many things didn't work and I kept putting off working on it. And then elements of life started piling up, I had course work at university and since I was repeating a year it REALLY had to have priority. Then I was a 4th year student and that priority was joined by the work being ALOT harder. EVERYTHING took a back seat to that. But the story never left us. Over these two years we would continue to talk about it, the things we thought would work and the things that wouldn't. I started writing again and tinkered 49 to a finish and began work on 50 until finally L-O and Rave got fed up and said 'Post the damn thing then!'

So I have.

When this story started Digimon Savers was just coming out and now Xros Wars has burst off into its own sequel, meaning two whole Digimon series have passed by and this story is still at the halfway point. Maybe it's a good thing I don't work for them afterall...

**Raven: **Ugh. I feel like George Lucas. Only I actually care about my story and fans.

There are no words to express how sorry I am that we have not kept up with this. It has been two years since we last updated, two years where people were waiting and wondering what might happen next, before finally giving up. I don't blame them, two years may be acceptable for a new film, game, or novel. But a single chapter? We really dropped the ball there.

And it's not that we grew tired of the story. We LOVE this story, and we want to share it with all of you. I just hope you all can understand that, and be patient as we try to fight real life to get the time to write this out. So again, I apologize for not kicking Keyo in the pants to keep up with this, and I hope you can once again enjoy our contribution to Digimon fanfiction.


	50. Chapter 50

"S...sir...?" one of the digimon who worked upon the Exvee's bridge nervously piped up. Lucemon had been in a good mood since the invasion started. With the city's defences crippled and their units deploying, it was only a matter of time before Tsuyunoinochi fell to them. There was, however, just this one little snag. A little snag that it was his unfortunate and life risking duty to report to his malevolent overlord. "We appear to be losing units within the city."

Surprise would replace fear for the little operator as instead of exploding into a fury the Lord of Pride instead smirked. "And here I thought I wouldn't get to do anything after all," he grinned, drumming his fingers over the surgical wounds in his chest. "Tell Yersinimon to keep an eye on things. I'm going out."

01000010

Chapter 50: The Morning Brings...part 2.

Nightmare Soldiers vs The Pride Lord!

01000010

"So, Lucemon himself has finally joined the battle has he?" Yersinimon fixed his masked eyes upon the small messenger. "Tch, it took him long enough." With a sharp movement, the crow like doctor whirled on the human who lounged in his lab. "Cecil, I am going to begin the tests. Until I return, the Exvee is under your command."

"Your-com-and!" Hagurumon repeated in his usual upbeat synthesiser voice.

"As you wish Lord Megatron," Cecil chuckled as he rose from his chair. "I guess you'll want me to watch over our other experiment then?"

"Tch, of course I do," Yersinimon snapped. "Lucemon's value has yet to fully run its course."

"Sirs...?" the messenger chimed in, head tilted to one side. He was unused to his master being discussed so casually.

"Do yourself a favour, boy," Cecil turned to him with a cold smile. "Just stick to doing what you're told? Capiche?"

Feeling the oppressive atmosphere of the laboratory suddenly turn dangerous, the messenger merely gulped and nodded his agreement and bolted as soon as Cecil gave a small wave to indicate he should leave, Hagurumon's eerily chirpy voice floating down the passageway behind him.

"Your-com-and! Run! Ca-Piche!"

01000010

The colossal conch smashed down against Claydrakemon's sword, the aura that surrounded the weapons sparking out and tearing up the street at the combatants pushed against one another.

"You can't keep this up!" the massive purple horse Digimon growled down at his opponent. "You may have defeated a few of our men, but you don't have the strength to take me down!"

"Don't have to," ClayDrakemon smirked back. "My partner's got me covered."

Inadramon managed a brief expression of confusion before something small smacked into the side of his head. A small glass bottle, full or not, wouldn't normally be a threat to the mighty digimon, but the contents suddenly burst into flame and he found his head wreathed in fire. He had endured temperatures far worse than this –the digital world ran on its own strange laws of thermodynamics– but the flames were in his eyes and not only did they sting but he couldn't see. This created a gap for only a moment, but it was enough. ClayDrakemon was able to shunt aside the massive weaponised shell, following through and cutting down his opponent, the red aura of Braver flashing through the air.

"I'm glad that worked," Vincent sighed, his shirt gone, shredded to form the tapers for a few more Molotov cocktails. "I wasn't sure how effective riot tricks would be against an ultimate..."

"Enough to keep us alive," ClayDrakemon wheezed. "Where are Liz and D-Greymon? I lost them in the..."

There was a sudden smashing sound as a large Digimon that resembled a cross between a pterodactyl and a collection of TV sets crashed to the ground, its body breaking down amongst the silver flames of D-Greymon's Sacred Fire attack, the large angel-dino thudding down shortly after.

"You two holding up alright?" Vincent called.

"Just peachy!" Liz waved back, her long hair tied back and her face red, even from here Vincent could see his friend struggling to get her breath back. He'd ask exactly what they had done in the air later.

They would definitely have a later he assured himself as he looked at the destruction in the city.

He couldn't understand it. What could Lucemon be thinking, causing this much damage to Tsyunoinoichi? If he was out to conquer it, wouldn't he want the city to actually be intact? He needed to get a better view of the city's layout, but he didn't want to risk flying up and exposing where they were to the battleship. In the same moment it occurred to him to ask Liz what she had seen he realised that the risk of exposure had already been blown.

"Liz! Did anyone see you guys up there?" He called.

"It's a possibility..." Liz gave a sideways glance as her partner rolled its eyes.

Suddenly the large cannons on the Exvee boomed again as it released more of the strange deployment bullets they had seen scattered around the city, four of them crashing down around the quartet.

"Okay, so it was a certainty."

"CONCH!" Vincent hollered, pointing at one of the deployment bullets. His choice was random but his idea was sound. Catching on to his partner's intent, ClayDrakemon siezed the great spiked shell and hurled it at the door in the bullet, the spikes driving deep into the metal and effectivly barring the door from opening.

"There, now it's just three on four," the dragon knight gave a wheezing laugh, rolling his shoulder in a manner identical to Vincent's, the stress of the large shell having worn both their muscles.

"I hope everyone's far from here by now," Liz grunted as she moved to stand tall on her partner's head, fists clenched. "I'd hate for this to be in vain."

Liz managed to keep her tone light, but the finality in it reached Vincent. He wanted to turn and offer some kind of support, but other than bloody single-mindedness he had nothing. Their entire chance for victory rested upon the shoulders of a coffee . He did not dare start thinking they wouldn't make it. If he lost Liz he did not know what he would do, but he could not suppress the worry for everyone else's safety.

'Tanya...everyone...please be far away by now...' was his only thought as their newest opponents exploded forth.

01000010

"Flame Chain!"

"Heat Vulcan!"

BurningGreymon's wrist mounted canons released a steady stream of attacks, trained eyes following SkullMeramon's chain as it swung through the air. The gun totting Digimon was at a severe disadvantage. With SkullMeramon's body able to absorb any fire based attacks his main arsenal was rendered useless. However, his opponent's chains seemed to lack this absorbent quality and he was able to disrupt the efforts to ensnare him, but he really wasn't equipped for such defensive fighting and a counter-attack was badly needed.

"Electric Sword! Electric Sword! Electric Sword!" Knightmon chanted as he slammed his large, electrified blade down again and again upon LoaderLiomon. The industrial beast howled in pain as the blows landed. His drill was already beginning to smoke since while his thick metal hide was able to turn away the blade, the electric charge was wrecking havoc upon his body's systems.

"Find anything useful?" Tatum asked, her fingers pressing against the rim of a kitchen counter top.

The pair of humans had taken refuge in a nearby house and were seeking any way to assist their disadvantaged partners. That was, Chad searched whilst Tatum clung to the nearest surface in frustration. For her the whole world was a deep blur and she could barely see an inch in front of her face, let alone a salvageable weapon. She rarely resented the dependency on others her eyesight could demand at times, but with her beloved baby of a partner howling in pain she was having to fight to keep her stress down.

"All I've got is enough booze to throw together a Molotov cocktail," Chad grunted pointless holding aloft the green glass bottle.

"No good. SkullMeramon won't feel it and Knightmon won't burn," Tatum shook her head, frustration rising. "We need to find some way to..."

Her words were cut short as BurningGreymon suddenly smashed through the wall, his arms pinned to his sides by SkullMeramon's Flame Chain.

"R-run!" he croaked out, penetrating the shock that had seized his partner, who grabbed Tatum's hand upon instinct and began guiding her out of the shattered house, being sure to alert her to every obstacle on the way.

"TATUM-UM!" LoaderLiomon cried in his oddly childish voice, before howling in pain as another electrically charged strike slammed into him.

"I think not, beast!" Knightmon boomed, clearly enjoying the pain he was inflicting.

"GET OFF HIM!" BurningGreymon roared, straining against the chains that bound him and trying desperately to stand.

"S'cool bro," SkullMeramon slammed one spiked boot into BurningGreymon's side, causing his downed and bound opponent to buck across the street. "S'gonna be over real quick if you stop strugglin'."

"Yeah...that ain't happing 'Bro'," BurningGreymon smirked back. SkullMeramon kick had given him enough momentum to pivot with the blow and, having gained a new angle, let rip with Heat Vulcan, the explosive rounds slamming into the back of Knightmon's legs.

The attack caught the armoured digimon completely off guard and his balance was destroyed. Dropping his massive sword he collapsed to his knees, wailing in pain. With a furious roar, LoaderLiomon seized his chance, his drill firing up into a Drill Rush attack. Engines at full throttle the wheels in his claws slammed down and he charged, the force of his rush shunting Knightmon to one side as the drill tore up his body. SkullMeramon, in panic, unleashed a stream of Metal Fireballs, but LoaderLiomon charged straight on. Electric attacks may have been able to tear into him but he was able to take the heat, but his target was not SkullMeramon. Slamming into his comrade, the large drill blades tore into the chains, freeing BurningGreymon.

"Don't brush us off so casually!" the winged digimon barked, bringing his wrist guns to bear on Knightmon, swapping opponents.

"Hey, that's not cool!" SkullMeramon interrupted, lashing out with his remaining chain, only to have LoaderLeomon skid around and into the path of his comrade, his large drill catching the chain and rapidly reeling it, and the bulky digimon, in.

"You can't hold me forever!" Knightmon bellowed, reaching for his shield as SkullMeramon slammed into LoaderLiomon's body.

"Not happening," BurningGreymon uttered as he leapt into the air, flames suddenly engulfing his body. "Wildfire…" Dropping down he landed on his comrade's back and thrust his arm guns back down the street away from his opponent.

For a brief moment Knightmon was confused, though relieved. He had no idea what they were about to try but with the pause in the assault he was able to prepare his shield and brace himself. He was not the only one though. BurningGreymon tightened his grip on LoaderLiomon's back and began to channel all of the flames surrounding him back into his body, forcing the large attack into his vulcans.

"…TSUNAMI!" he finally bellowed the end of his attack's name, the torrent of fire bursting out like a colossal rocket jet, suddenly sending LoaderLiomon from static to cruise missile.

"DRILL RUSH!" LoaderLiomon cried, his drill mane burling into high gear and pulling SkullMeramon around with it. The drill's blades and the high-speed spin began to tear apart SkullMeramon who screamed in terror. Knightmon, meanwhile, realised exactly what was about to happen. Whilst BurningGreymon's Wildfire Tsunami was giving the Nightmare Soldiers a massive speed boost, SkullMeramon's super heated body was being added to the power of LoaderLiomon's drill.

"No, STOP!" Knightmon cried out, instinctively bracing himself behind his shield, but the combination of speed, power and heat smashed straight through, leaving a gaping molten hole through his shield and body.

With SkullMeramon's chains shredded, the other pride Digimon dropped to the ground as LoaderLiomon skidded to a halt, his passenger fanning out his wings in order to act as an extra break.

"You did it!" Chad cheered, continuing to support Tatum as they staggered out of the rubble.

"The Nightmare Soldiers don't fall so easily!" BurningGreymon crowed. "This is our combination!"

"Stinky poo heads!" LoaderLiomon helpfully added.

"No...S'cool..." SkullMeramon grunted, reaching amongst the remains of his chain belts to retrieve a small, lumpy metallic spheroid. "Yersinimon said...ugh...we might lose, so he gave us this..."

"It sickens me to resort to this...to a mad mon's experiments...but..." Knightmon looked down at his shattered body, he was torn almost clean in half and what edges were not jagged scrap were melted strands of slag. "SkullMeramon...show them OUR combination!"

"Combination?" Tatum's blurred eyes widened.

"The hell is a 'Yersinimon'? I've never heard of that Digimon before!" Chad racked his brains for having ever heard such a name.

"Like I'll let you...HEAT VULCAN!"

"JOGRESS DRIVE!" the two soldiers of Pride cried out, the lumpy sphere burning into light at their words. In that moment the digimons' bodies broke apart and began to spiral into the centre of the light, the Heat Vulcan rounds only being drawn deep into the light. Even the light itself began to collapse down into the centre, like a supernova transforming into a black hole, until at last there was only a burning sphere hovering in the air.

"Did...Did I get them?" BurningGreymon asked, his vulcans never lowering.

"I don't..." Tatum began before the ball of fire suddenly exploded, the brisance launching the Nightmare Soldiers flying backwards as windows shattered and tiles cracked. Bodies aching the group pulled themselves up, gazing at the figure amongst the wreckage, standing where the ball of fire once hovered.

"Knightmon..." Chad stared in disbelief.

"SkullMeramon..." BurningGreymon joined him.

"They actually digivolved together?" Tatum asked, trying to peer ahead with her poor vision.

"They...They're..." Chad stumbled for words, trying to pick out the right description.

"KNIGHTMERAMON!" the new being roared to the sky. Its body was a twisted mess of broken armour with flames pouring from every gap and seam. The centre of the body was torn open, making it resemble a monstrous jaw with wild flames filling the void. In its right hand it held Knightmon's blade, now wreathed in flames whilst on the left chains bound a hideous malformation of Knightmon's shield. Crackling with electricity the shield had been warped into a single massive claw. Before anyone could speak it became clear that this new being's vocabulary may have been limited to its name as mighty roar erupted from its chest, the flames billowing outward as it did so. With a single swing it released a wall of fire down the street, BurningGreymon leaping into its path, his wings spread out to help shield his comrades.

"BURNINGGREYMON!" Chad cried out, before howling in pain. It took a moment but he realised that the pain was heat. He was feeling BurningGreymon burn up! How was that even possible?

"Chad!" Tatum's arms were around him, keeping him from falling as he stumbled from the pain.

"STOP BEING SO MEAN!" LoaderLiomon cried, racing out to attack the moment the flames passed, his drill main snapping into action. "DRILL RUSH!"

"LoaderLiomon...don't!" BurningGreymon reached out to his comrade, but too late. With the massive shield claw KnightMeramon seized onto LoaderLiomon's drill, causing the lion like digimon to come to a painfully sharp stop, his initial cry suddenly magnifying as the electricity in the arm began to pour through his body. His wail was instantly reproduced by Tatum.

"He's...so much stronger than before..." BurningGreymon growled. "Heat, strength and armour..."

"How do we beat that...?" Chad asked aloud, he and Tatum now having to lean against each other to stay up. "He's practically MADE to counter the way you two fight!

"For now? We just hit him with everything we've got!" the winged Digimon announced, taking flight and roaring as he charged his opponent, desperately hoping that someone would come up with a plan.

01000010

"Do you have a plan yet?" Shademon asked in the same tone you would use if you were asking your friend about their need for new socks.

"Not as such, no..." Eight responded, his foot rapidly beating against the roof top as the rest of his body twitched. Not considering himself dosed up enough yet, he took another swig from his thermos before switching to pacing back and forth. "That thing is moving around too much for you to shadow walk us in there..."

"Not to mention I wouldn't know where we were going..." Shademon added, not that Eight was paying much attention to what he said.

"And if you digivolved to Eclipsemon and flew us up, we'd just be gunned down..."

"A somewhat more terminal option," the shadow digimon provided, before squinting at an object in the distance.

"We could try scaling it..." Eight continued as Shademon narrowed his eyes. That object was moving towards them. "But I'm not even good at balancing on my desk chair..."

Tuning Eight out, Shademon focused on the object, hurtling through the air as it was. Was it an enemy unit? Given the arc it was travelling in and the way it suddenly appeared, it had clearly jumped rather than taken flight...It certainly had forsaken any space for wings in favour of more guns...but something about it seemed familiar, the energy it gave off.

"...so all we need are three chickens, a mankini and a distraction and we can do this!" Eight wrapped up as Shademon tuned him back in.

"I think one of those is about to land," Shademon pointed in a rather disinterested way over his partner's shoulder.

"The chickens?" Eight asked before the impact that shook the ground knocked him off his feet. Panzermon's body loomed over the hacker and his digimon partner.

"Buckaw," Shademon deadpanned.

"EIGHT! CLIMB ON!" BB shouted down as he clung on tightly to his partner, goggles down over his eyes to keep the wind out.

"Wha...Sephy?" Eight gaped as he lay on his back. "Yeah, you'll do for a distraction," the hacker nodded to himself as he scrambled upright and clambered on to the colossal digimon. "Coming, Shademon?"

"Do I have a choice?" The shadow digimon sighed, following his partner.

"Pretending for a moment that I haven't got a plan and that you're the genius, what strategy do you have?" Eight asked, trying to mimic the hold BB had that would somehow keep him from falling from the living assault tower.

"We attack that thing head on!" BB announced.

"Wait, what?" Eight and Shademon managed to ask, though they had no time to question this plan as Panzermon catapulted himself back into the air.

With the wind slamming down on them as they rushed up Eight was glad he had mimicked BB's posture as he was well braced against Panzermon's mechanical body. Of course, whilst he was not falling off he found he could not see as his eyes watered up and even BREATHING escaped him as the pressure crushed all the air out of his lungs. As they reached the apex of the jump the hacker desperately pulled air back into his lungs, enjoying the brief moment of floating.

"Well...that was intense..." Eight wheezed.

"Next bit's better," BB's voice floated over.

"What?" Eight managed, before realisation set in that what goes up must also come down again. In fact, the greater realisation was that why leaping towards a colossal battleship you will come in range of its weapons before long. And so, regretting that he didn't have enough air left to scream in abject terror the hacker settled for clinging tightly and letting his expression convey his current feelings on the matter.

BB, however, had plenty of breath left for a cry of a much different variety.

"AAAAAAATAAAAAACK!"

"GESCHOSSABLE!" Panzermon hollered, angling his massive battery arms down, their massive 'brakabraka' filling the air with noise as the guns themselves filled it with bullets that hurtled down to the battleship bellow.

Moments earlier on the bridge of the Exvee, Cecil had luxuriously seated himself upon the throne that counted as the Captain's chair. One leg draped over the other, parasol in one hand and martini glass of...something that wasn't going to poison him (he hoped, the food in the Digital World could be weird) he settled in to enjoy a nice view of the bombardment of the city. There was certainly something...archaic about Yersinimon's methods. Then again, one could hardly argue with the results of a military bombardment. Of course, there was resistance in the city, but he honestly would have been disappointed if their plan had crippled that merry little band.

"Sir! We have an enemy unit in-bound!" one of the operators cried.

"Are you serious?" Cecil asked, both eyebrows raising in disbelief. "Exvee is one of the most powerful of the Numerals. It has the power to, and is in the process of, levelling an entire city. None of them have the power to challenge us and Cait would never be gutsy enough to send one of them to..."

It was at this point that the colossal bullets from Geschossable slammed down onto the deck, tearing up several of the pipes and guns before Panzermon himself slammed down. He slid up the giant cannons on his back into firing position, aiming them straight at the bridge.

"Shields..." Cecil absently waved, eyes transfixed on the large mechanical, cyborg, tank digimon thing as it charged its attack. "SHIELDS!" he screamed, coiling up in the seat in panic.

"ZWEI HOWITZ!" Panzermon cried out, his cannons discharging as a series of barriers formed around the ship's command tower, the air filling with a heated screeching noise as they struggled against the sheer force of the attack. Sparks would have filled the air if the flash from the Zwei Howitz shells was not so blinding.

"FIRE! SHOOT HIM!" Cecil hollered, the guns on deck warping and contorting to be able to point up at the quadro-tank who immediately launched back into the air.

"That was INSANE!" Eight gasped, wide eyed as he crouched behind one of the cannons, hands clamped over his ears in an effort to block out the cacophony of noise the weapons on deck were generating.

"You're not dead. Stop complaining," Shademon responded unsympathetically to his partner as he dipped his head into the shadows around them, working out a safe route. Whilst his last effort to carry Eight through the Shadow Paths had worked, he was not keen to try it again without actually planning the route in advance.

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you over HAVING BEEN TRAUMATISED FOR LIFE!" Eight hollered back without any regard for the stealth portion of their plan. The whole point of a distraction was it drew danger AWAY from him, and whilst BB's plan had worked it had not exactly given Eight an easy ride in. Upon crashing down on Exvee's deck Shademon had pulled his shell-shocked partner down from their comrade, letting the enemy pursue Panzermon as all their attention went to the showy pair. Eight, however, had not yet recovered from the sheer terror of the plummet enough to check if he had wet himself, let alone begin sneaking around. Fortunately, Shademon did not care.

"I've found a path, let's go," was the only warning he gave before grabbing his human by the arm and hauling him through and into the shadows.

A world of darkness rushed around them and for a moment the only light that Eight could perceive was the glow from Shademon's eyes until he suddenly spilled out onto lush red carpet.

"I think I'm going to throw up..." Eight moaned, coiled in the foetal position. "And I think that I may have actually wet myself..."

"Ah jeez, where da hell did YOU come from?" a voice suddenly boomed out.

Looking up, Eight and Shademon found themselves gazing up at the three eyes of Beelzemon. The demon lord rested his arms upon the handle bars of his motorbike, a long trail of torn carpet tailed out behind him.

"So, there was a second Lord of Sin on board," Shademon sighed, sounding slightly annoyed and largely unimpressed by the Lord of Gluttony's appearance.

"Great. My life ends with terror, self urination and embarrassing myself in front of a cool Digimon right before he kills me," Eight whined.

"For the love of Asimov you are such a baby!" Beelzemon nursed his head, trying to gain the strength to deal with the hacker. "Look. I'm only going to talk to you," Beelzemon pointed to the shadowy digimon. "Just help me get out of here and I won't shoot you."

"You're lost?" Shademon took over the conversation, deciding it was for the best until Eight stopped being such a pansy.

"Lucemon just got off dis infernal WMD," Beelzemon continued with the 'ignore Eight' plan. "Which means I can finally take my shot at him without dis livin' weapon of his wipin' me out," he grinned, cocking one of his Berenjena shot guns to emphasize his point.

"Wait...so you're telling me that the scariest guy on this ship has LEFT," Eight bolted up-right, swinging his arms to point in the direction that he assumed they had come from. "And the OTHER scariest guy on the ship wants to go and KICK HIS ASS for us?"

"I'm afraid I can't take you through the way we came. You're a good deal bigger than my skinny baggage here," Shademon pointed back to the hacker, continuing with the 'ignore Eight' plan. "And I'm not sure I can find a way out either, this isn't the area that I was aiming for."

"Wait, what?" Eight's attention snapped to his partner.

"My exit point seemed to change mid-transit, fortunately I was able to safely exit in this hallway."

"Safely? Are you saying things could have gone horribly wrong in there? Tell me! Could we have swapped skin? Because that would be both cool, and horrifying!"

"It seems that these hallways have been moving, changing every so often," Shademon continued his explanation, dipping one hand into the shadows. "Even now I can feel their configuration moving."

"I see..." Beelzemon grumbled, casually scratching the back of his head with Berenjena's barrel. "You two are here to disrupt things though, aren't you?"

"Of course," Shademon nodded.

"Heh. Then I guess we're free to go wild," the Demon Lord beamed, drawing out his second gun. "Smashing my way out should make things easier for you to get control of the ship, and that means I won't get shot in the back."

"Are you saying you're actually on our side?" Eight asked, standing straight.

"Hmph, we've had our issues in the past you and I, but I can't really say we ever stopped being on the same side," Beelzemon grinned. "Before I go, you should know there's a very important human on this ship that you'll want to take care of," Beelzemon cautioned.

"Wait, what?" Eight asked, but found his voice drowned out by the roar of the motorbike's engine.

"LET'S GO! BEHEMOTH!" Beelzemon roared, the motorbike surging forward as he began to unleash a barrage from Berenjena, the bullets ripping a path through Exvee and to the outside world.

"What the hell was he on about?" Eight asked his partner.

Shademon, for his part, did not respond. The stress of carrying Eight through the shadows again had taken its toll upon his body, and whilst he had resolve enough to stare Beelzemon in his over-many eyes, it had now burned out and he proceeded to collapse into his partner.

"Oy! Shademon! C'mon, don't do this to me! Things were finally going our way!"

01000010

"Another two of those bullets just slammed into the castle!" Tanya exclaimed in distress. Since she and Ranamon had separated from the others she had become aware that ALOT of the transport bullets had been targeting Gaiomon's castle. Her first plan had been to get to the Lord of Sincerity, hoping that his Mega Level would prevent him from being affected as the other digimon had, and at first the bullets had given her hope. After all, the enemy would not keep sending in troops if the Virtue was not still resisting. But by now she was starting to worry that there would be enough enemies crawling in the castle to make the place a death trap, rather than a chance at salvation.

"Maybe we shouldn't go there aftah all..." Ranamon proposed as they paused. "Ah mean, if he WERE able to wake everybody up, he would have done it by now?"

"I suppose you're right..." Tanya confessed, looking down at Pupmon still asleep in her arms. "But I can't think of anything else we can..."

Tanya went instantly silent, a chill running up her spine. Even amongst the sounds of battle in the distance she could clearly hear the footsteps approaching. Fear clutched at her chest and Ranamon acted something like a mirror, sharing the human girl's terrified expression.

"M...Maybe it's Chad come to get us?" Tanya hopefully put forward, trying to match up the sound of tapping and shuffling to their comrade.

"We look on three?" Ranamon tried desperately to restrain the urge to run.

"One," Tanya started.

"Two," Ranamon continued.

"Three!" they nearly screamed in unison, whipping around to face the footsteps.

And for a moment, there was no-one.

Tap, tap.

Shuffle, shuffle.

Tap, tap.

Shuffle, shuffle.

"Maybe we should just have run?" Tanya asked.

But before Ranamon could reply two figures stepped out from around the corner. One was a Floramon, her root-like feet being the source of the shuffling. The other was a human, a young girl who could not have been more than a year or two older than BB. Pale skinned and freckled, her bright red hair was not too long. She was clad in a gothic maid outfit, her formal shoes having been the source of the tapping, and a digivice hung from a short chain on the choker about her neck. Her eyes were her most startling feature, however. Whilst bright green they were completely opaque, with no sign of life, or pupils for that matter.

"Um...are you okay little girl?" Tanya asked, very nearly tentatively stepping forward before she felt Ranamon tug at her back.

"Tanya...don't..." the frog digimon cautioned, her eyes having gotten wider with fear.

"But Ranamon, she's..."

"Ranamon! There you are!" a male voice suddenly barked as a small flying digimon followed behind the two new arrivals. It looked rather like a musical note with tattered bat wings, red dots lining the inside and a single eye within a red crow's foot sat on the sphere of its body.

"What the heck is that?" Tanya asked, pointing at the strange flying creature.

"SoundBirdmon..." Ranamon answered. "They're digimon who exist to transfer data, like sight n' sound," she explained.

"But how does it know your name?"

"SoundBirdmon do not speak themselves, they simply obey and transmit," the male voice spoke up again. "And I know Ranamon's name because she is MY subordinate, and she needs to stop wasting time."

"Cecil..." Ranamon started, her voice pleading.

"Ranamon, the warship has come under attack. I want to utilise your abilities in its defence," Cecil explained, completely ignoring Tanya's presence. "Floramon's pollen cannot put an ultimate to sleep, but if we utilize your draining rain as well it should slow the target down enough for the Exvee to get a lock on it."

"Hey...wait...what are you saying?" Tanya interrupted. "Ranamon...Ranamon's our friend!"

"Oh please, her reports said that you were smart," Cecil droned, the Floramon seeming to grow uncomfortable the more she heard his voice. "Surely you know what a spy is? A double agent? Ranamon has been on our side from the start."

"No way..." Tanya turned to look at the blue digimon, who refused to look back at her.

"When the other Nightmare Soldiers started turning up I assumed you all had managed to escape the pollen's effects and that's why she hadn't reported killing any of you," Cecil carried on, seeming to enjoy the way Tanya shuddered as she tried to process the revelation. "So that's why I had Bryony and Floramon come looking, in case I needed to snatch her back with force. But now I see that an ultimate is not necessary, and that my spy simply got cold feet. So I think Plan A is still possible. Ranamon," the way that Cecil barked her name was the only reason she looked up, "drown this girl and return to the Exvee immediately."

"Wha?" Ranamon gasped, her own shaking becoming evident.

"Cecil! That's going too far, she doesn't need to..." Floramon spoke up, before suddenly going quiet and placing her petal hands over her mouth. It was as if speaking out of turn scared her more than the command for Tanya's death.

"Ranamon..." Tanya was paralysed. She was outnumbered and with SoundBirdmon aerial observation on their side she had no chance of escape. Hell, she couldn't run very fast in the first place so she definetely had no chance of escape.

"No..." Ranamon's voice was small and shaky, very much the audio equivalent to her body right now.

"What was that?" Cecil asked, his voice building from disbelief to fury.

"No...Ah won't do it..." Ranamon forced her gaze straight into SoundBirdmon's single eye. "Tanya's a good person. She's mah friend! Ah won't kill her!"

"Ranamon..." Tanya smiled, not unaware that the short digimon had moved ever so slightly between her and the newcomers.

"I see," Cecil's voice was forcibly steadied. "Then matters are simple. Ex-Ai-Ai, digivolve Floramon! Destroy them both and then engage Panzermon!"

"Ex-Ai-Ai?" Tanya found her dialogue once again limited to exclamations and questions. "What's that?"

"It must be one'a Yersinimon's Numerals," Ranamon tried to explain. "But Ah've never encountered that one before."

"You wouldn't have," Cecil explained as a strange, euphoric look began to come over the young girl, Bryony. "We do keep some of the Numerals very secret you know, but Ex-Ai-Ai is a key piece in our plan. It can manipulate brain waves to control a person's thoughts and feelings. So of course, when attached to a human it can simply create the necessary brain impulses to cause digivolution!"

"What! Digivolving isn't just brain impulses!" Tanya objected. "It's a power that comes from the bond between partners! It's a result of trust and friendship!"

"Oh really? A digimon digivolves in response to their partner's will and feelings. But 'feelings' and 'emotion' are nothing more than a chemical balance in the brain! Trust? Friendship? Bonds! These are delusions, a child's dream of magic! If your precious 'bond' was so strong your partner wouldn't simply be a furry lump in your arms, would it?" Cecil sneered, that Pupmon failed to even stir certainly did not dampen his argument.

"Bryony..." Floramon turned to her partner with a sad look, before turning to look back at Tanya and Ranamon. "I'm sorry...But, I don't have a choice..."

"Ultimate. Evolution," Bryony's voice was flat and monotone, but a pink light surrounded her body nonetheless, pouring into her digivice.

"Run," Tanya suddenly found herself proposing.

"Floramon Digivolve to..."

"RUN!" she moved to insisting, grabbing Ranamon's hand and pulling her along as she bolted into the nearest side street as fast as her geeky legs would take her.

"Tanya, we can't!" Ranamon suddenly came to a stop. "You get goin', I'll slow them up."

"Ranamon, she's digivolving to ultimate! You won't..."

"Ah know..." Ranamon's voice was resigned, but firm. "But WE can't stop her either. AH can at least slow her down so that you and Pupmon can get away and help the others."

"But Ranamon..."

"Do me a favour though...would y'all tell Komo-Komo thanks and that I...I..." Losing her resolve to say anymore, Ranamon broke into a run, heading back the way they had just come.

"No...Ranamon...I can't just let you...RANAMON!" Tanya cried,

It did not take long for Ranamon to find her opponents. They had hardly been in hot pursuit but Ranamon knew Tanya's low stamina would have kept them from eluding them for long. At first glance she thought the Floramon had become a Lilamon, it was the right body shape, complete with petal head-dress and flower stem limbs, but something was off. There appeared to be stitching at the joints and her skin simply didn't look to be made of the right substance. Even the eyes were wrong, looking like big black beads. However, for once her task was not information gathering, she was here to fight.

"Drainin' Rain!" she cried as she darted across the street, summoning a small rain cloud above the ultimate's head. The water began to stream down, each drop afflicting her body and dampening her power. Against an ultimate its effects would be limited, but it would hopefully slow her enough to let Ranamon buy Tanya some actual time. Reaching out with her senses she was able to feel the rain pouring from her first attack and seized control of it. "Whippin Waves!" she followed up, whipping the rain water around into a large sphere about the ultimate's head.

"Even ultimate's breathe..." Ranamon uttered to herself, focusing on the swirls. "This has gotta..."

And suddenly,was upon her. Maybe it was hubris to think that she could slow her down for more than a few seconds. The ultimate had only to sprint in order to break free of the water sphere. Water dripped from her petal headdress and beads of it sat upon her bead eyes, making her expressionless face even creepier. It was not going to make for a pleasant last sight.

"Silk Shower!"

'Komo-Komo...' Ranamon thought, squeezing her eyes tight as the glow appeared at the end of the ultimate's flower hand. This was the end.

And then the flower Digimon was smashed into the ground, her shot firing harmlessly into the ground as a black and white blur slammed into her back and landing before Ranamon, the black shape growling at the flattened digimon.

"Leave Rrrrranamon alone!" the wolf growled, mist rising up from her super cooled body.

"Lupmon?" Ranamon asked, eyes wide.

"She's OzLykiomon now," Tanya explained, seated upon her partner's back. "Ranamon, we'll take care of them. You find a way to save everyone."

"But how did you get Pupmon to Digivolve?" Ranamon's brain was still a few moments behind.

"Because...that stuff that Cecil guy said about bonds...was totally wrong," Tanya smiled at the frog digimon, leaving a warm sensation in Ranamon's chest. "So, let's show them. We'll keep them busy, you save everyone. Then you can tell Komodomon yourself."

"Tanya..."

"Hey, the whole 'one word response' thing is my gig," Tanya beamed. "Now get going, we got them!" She turned her attention back to her opponent as she rose, digivice out and in scan mode.

**SilkLilamon**

**Level: **Ultimate

**Type: **Data

**Moves:** Silk Shower, Un Deux Prosthetic, Gentle Dagger.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to kill you now," SilkLilamon's words were a little creepier thanks to her lack of a mouth.

"Not happening. Let's go OzLykiomon!"

"LUNAR WAIL!"

"SILK SHOWER!"

01000010

"BRAVER!"

"CURSED INNOCENCE!"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The three soldiers of pride fell as the attacks connected. Admittedly one did start getting back up again causing Liz to keep wailing on his face with her glowing fists until Vincent pulled her back, allowing their digimon partners to deliver a far more effective knock-out blow.

"I could have taken him!" Liz hollered pulling free from Vincent's grip.

"Liz, he was 12ft tall, spat drills and had a chainsaw for an arse! I think we're lucky to have distracted him!"

"Booze bowler..." Liz grumbled, suddenly finding the strength going from her legs. Feeling faint, the orange light that had been burning around her fists faded out as she was suddenly back in Vincent's arms.

"Idiot. You pushed yourself too far," Vincent chided, a warm look of concern on his face. For a moment he was simply back at school trying to pull his friend back from picking a fight far too large. Detentions and scoldings from parents being the big threat, morals and principles were the stakes and they could laugh about it afterwards. Really, he'd always thought the two would be together all their lives, he just hoped the end of their lives was not going to be an immediate event. "You gotta stop doing that..."

"As if..." Liz semi-slurred, not making any effort to move as Vincent's grip tightened ever so slightly. In fact, she seemed to simply sink in. Vincent was possibly the only person her guard could drop around and her body seemed to reflexively know it was okay to relax into him.

"Bro. I love you. But I'm not gonna cuddle you," ClayDrakemon poked at D-Greymon. The angelic dinosaur was looking as ragged as his partner, a reminder of the bond that transferred the pain and exertion between the two.

"I'd rather collapse, thank you," D-Greymon grinned back, his massive claw gripping a low roofed building for support.

"What are you two on about?" Liz asked. "We're not..." For one beat she realised the position they were in, but the second was disrupted by the strange aura that suddenly filled the air.

In fact, it was more than an aura. So far they had been chasing the sounds of wanton destruction that were filling the air but now those sounds had faded away. It was as if the entire invading army was holding its collective breath in anticipation or awe.

"Oh, I don't like this," ClayDrakemon uttered, moving to stand back to back with D-Greymon, the two humans placed in between their partners.

"Boss fight?" the holy dino asked, eyes sweeping the streets before turning to the skies.

With one massive claw he pointed upwards towards the eight winged figure flying towards them. The distinctive motif of light and dark alone would have been a major flag for their identity, but they knew they would have to face him anyway. Perhaps on some level they had hoped that the fight would be won before he could appear, or perhaps they did not expect to live long enough for him to need to. Whatever the case, Lucemon's arrival still sent a shocking shudder down the groups' spines as an instinctive fear of a predator filled their nerves.

"Lucemon..." Vincent breathed out, eyes fixed on the fallen angel digimon. Unconsciously his grip on Liz grew even tighter, pulling her closer to him, and it was an equally unconscious action that had Liz taking a hold of him as well.

"Definitely a boss fight..." ClayDrakemon found himself swallowing hard.

The quartet stood stock still as the Demon Lord approached, slowly drifting down towards them. Every sound and sight became magnified as his boots touched down on the debris strewed paving stones.

"The ones who destroyed Grademon," Lucemon smiled at Vincent and ClayDrakemon. "The ones who defeated Exeliax," his eyes darted over to Liz and D-Greymon. "The ability of instant evolution alone makes you humans interesting. But you four...you four have killed my finest warrior and beaten down one of Yersinimon's most vicious creations. You have certainly earned my attention." Lucemon's smile became broader, a sadistic glint entering his eyes. "I'm going to enjoy this."

They could tell this was an opponent leagues above them. They remembered the battle with Magnamon and TyrantKabuterimon, how so many of the Nightmare Soldiers could throw themselves at them and do nothing. And now, there were only two ultimate digimon to take on a Demon Lord, another Digimon of unbelievable power. Even Vincent could not see a clear path to victory. They could only hope to keep him busy until the others had fled.

"Vincent, Liz...get to cover..." ClayDrakemon growled, tightening his grip on his sword.

"Wha?" Liz turned in surprise to the digimon.

"But..." Vincent started.

"There's no way we can fight this guy and shield you at the same time..." D-Greymon continued.

"Let's begin!" Lucemon beamed, winding his arm back for a punch, despite of the thirty or so feet between them.

"GO!" ClayDrakemon roared, the two humans following the cry and bolting for the nearest alleyway, each clasping the other's hand , drawing strength from the other enough to not freak out.

"PARADISE LOST!" Lucemon cried out in glee, swinging his fist forward, the sheer force of it unleashing a burst of pressure against the ultimates.

Digging their clawed feet in, the Nightmare Soldiers struggled against the pressure, their minds reeling at the sheer power their foe possessed. And then, before they could react, Lucemon was upon them, his fist slamming into ClayDrakemon's chest and launching the dragon knight back down the street. In the alley, Vincent was suddenly blasted off his feet and slammed into the wall, all of the breath bursting out of his lungs.

"Vincent!" Liz cried, grabbing her friend as he began to crumple, adrenaline burning away her former weariness. Suddenly though, she let out a chocked cry, crumpling down as pain erupted through the back of her head as on the street D-Greymon was laid out with a blow by Lucemon.

"Liz..." Vincent grunted, reaching out to grasp his friend before screaming out in pain, Lucemon continuing to beat down on ClayDrakemon.

"Damnit..." the dragon grunted, pinned down under Lucemon's foot. Unable to move, he could not even raise his blade.

"Is this really all you've got?" Lucemon chuckled, slowly squeezing the air out of him. "I was rather hoping you could entertain me a bit more than this."

"Sorry, I'm not the comedian of the team..." ClayDrakemon grunted, suddenly spitting out a weakened Valour Burst into his face. The attack did little damage, but ClayDrakemon had learned from his partner's tricks, the silver blast blinding Lucemon and causing him to reflexively reach one hand up to his eyes. This was the chance D-Greymon needed, his Cursed Innocence attack charged, he rushed the Demon Lord to try and cut him down. Only for Lucemon to whip his leg around in a low arc, kicking ClayDrakemon into the air, causing the dragon to take the holy strike instead, before punching out once more and bowling both Digimon over.

"See...If I were the comedian...I'd have made a quip there..." ClayDrakemon practically coughed up his words as he tried to disentangle himself from the larger digimon and his own cape.

"You really just do not stop talking, do you," Lucemon beamed, pacing forward. "You have no idea how many lesser beings just babble incoherently and die. This makes for a nice change."

"See, we're entertaining you after all," the dragon-knight digimon smiled back, standing upright and eventually succeeding in levelling his blade at the demon lord.

"I suppose your chatter is rather amusing," Lucemon rubbed at his chin, effortlessly avoiding ClayDrakemon's swings as the Nightmare Soldier lashed out again and again, blade wreathed in ethereal fire. "I was hoping I could try out the toy Yersinimon gave me, but since you can hardly put up a fight it, I suppose some idle banter will do."

With a single deft movement he caught ClayDrakemon's blade, clasping it tight between two fingers in such a casual manner it was insulting, the flames from the Braver attack not even singing his gloves.

"I didn't think that demi-gods tried to rile mortals," ClayDrakemon continued to shoot his mouth off, yanking at his sword with both hands in a futile effort to free it.

"Oh, I'm not going to try...I'm going to succeed," Lucemon's predatory grin grew as he leaned in, bringing his face right up to his opponent's. "Your precious little Rana-Rana...is MY servant."

CRACK!

ClayDrakemon had not responded with words. His eyes having slipped into reptilian slits the dragon knight had given up on his sword and lashed out with a single punch. And Lucemon, for his part, had a look of shock upon his face. That, and his jaw was sitting out of alignment, the punch having sharply dislocated it.

"You son of a Tandy!" ClayDrakemon bellowed, lashing out to punch him again only to have his fist caught as well.

"Uh, uh..." Lucemon shook his head, actual articulation beyond him for the moment. He was more than capable of making his point though as he began to painfully bend ClayDrakemon's fist backwards.

"Yu-huh!" D-Greymon cut in, dropping down and slamming his full weight into the Demon Lord, who hoisted ClayDrakemon up as a shield, swinging him up to batter D-Greymon to one side. Casting aside the dragon knight's sword he placed his now free hand onto his head and began to squeeze. ClayDrakemon could not hold out against the pain and began to scream as his helmet started to crumple.

"Well, that was a nice reaction," Lucemon tried to keep his level tone, but the frustration and pain were clear on his face as he was forced to snap his jaw back into place in order to talk. His pristine hair was now out of place and he had to reign in the near psychotic twitch beginning in his eye. "But now, let's see what reaction your friend has to me crushing you sku-AAAARGHHH!"

Dropping down to his knees, ClayDrakemon looked up to see Lucemon's hand now open and twin holes burned into his arm. The fury and indignation he had managed to control from ClayDrakemon's blow was now on full display as he glared up into the sky.

"BEEEEELZEMON!" he bellowed, calling the attention of the Nightmare Soldier digimon to the sky where a motor-cycle was hurtling down, its rider holding out his trademark guns, bullets raining down and slamming into Lucemon who was pinned in place. The bullets slammed into his body with terrifying force, causing the demon lord to stumble backwards and holes were torn into his previously pristine suit.

"BEHEMOTH KICK!" the rider roared, kicking off from his ride and letting the weighty cycle slam into the Pride Lord, sending him flying backwards as Beelzemon himself slammed down onto the street, sparks flying from his boots as he skidded along the cobblestones. "There, I said it. You happy now?" he asked, scratching at his head with his gun, with a casual disregard for gun safety.

"Who are you talking to?" D-Greymon found himself asking.

"I'm in a lot of pain right now..." ClayDrakemon moaned, pulling at his helmet until he was able to snap it roughly back into shape.

"You guys have a real strange way of sayin' 'tanks for savin' our hides' you know that?" Beelzemon snorted.+

"Don't act so suprised, if we're gonna mouth off to one Demon Lord we'll mouth off to them all. Except maybe Leviamon...now that's a mouth off even Eight would lose..." ClayDrakemon prattled, trying to look less beaten up than he actually was.

"'Dat guy is one heck of a bad influence..." Beelzemon grumbled back.

"I'm not going to disagree with you there," D-Greymon joined in.

"Beelzemon...what are you DOING!" Lucemon barked, quivering with rage. "Why have you DARED to..."

"What? Ignore you or attack you?" Beelzemon interrupted, enjoying the way veins began to bulge on Lucemon's forehead. "Don't act so suprised. Yous had that ship of yours trying to keep me trapped. You was plannin' on rumblin' as much as I was."

"Why you..." Lucemon began to growl, preparing to unleash some tirade or another but Beelzemon's rude manners jumped in again.

"Oh for...SMOKE THE SUCKER!" He bellowed, levelling his Berenjena Shotguns at the enraged Lord of Pride. It was not hard for D-Greymon and ClayDrakemon to pick a side.

"DOUBLE IMPACT!"

"VALOUR BURST!"

"CROSS FIRE!"

0100010

"How on earth can a shadow weigh so much!" Eight whined, staggering down one of the corridors of the warship, Shademon on his back.

"I'm more curious about why we haven't seen any crew yet..." Shademon mused back from his slumped position.

"Oh stop being all sensible and let me enjoy my whining," Eight snapped back. "And if you REALLY wanna know, it's probably because the ship's alive, therefore it can mostly run itself. Haven't you SEEN Farscape?"

"What do you think?" Shademon responded with only half-hearted frustration. He felt too burned out to try going full hearted.

"Don't try and blame your 'having lived inside a videogame all your life' for your lack of taste!" Eight continued. "If Komodomon can be a fan of Indiana Jones, YOU can watch Farscape and wonder if all the aliens count as Muppets or not!"

"Look, if you want me back on my feet you should really keep focused on finding me some food," Shademon's glowing eyes did their best effort to roll.

"We found food! We know where food is! It's a ship, it's full of massive straight corridors! But the vending machine is still a billion miles that way and I am horribly unfit!" Eight waggled his nose in the direction of the food filled monolith that sat, more accurately, just a few yards away. "So either chat with me, or find a way to let me go faster! Because I'll be honest, this is not how I planned to spend my already TERRIFYING infiltration of enemy territory!"

"You could always just put me down, get some food and bring it back to me," Shademon pointed out.

"Elispses and sputtering!" Eight exclaimed. "Why couldn't you have suggested this BEFORE I lugged you down the corridor that would never end!"

"S'funny," Shademon lazily responded, before being unceremoniously dropped to the floor as Eight stormed off. Briefly, the hacker turned and pointed an angry finger at his partner, but no witty snapback would come to mind. Thus he turned again, even more frustrated, and marched off to the vending machine.

Grumbling and spluttering all the way, Eight rooted around in his pockets for what little money he had left, producing a single note and gazing into the machine. WHY a battleship had a vending machine did not trouble him. He'd programmed weirder things into the game after all. Picking out the most foul looking protein bar he could, Eight settled on this for his vengeance and went to cram the note into the payment slot.

Only to find it only took coins.

"!" he screamed at the machine. "ALL OF MY HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE!" he bellowed again, seizing it by the sides and trying to shake it, only to be reminded of his puny nerd level strength as it refused to budge, so he moved on to kicking it and screaming. "I HAVE FALLEN FROM THE SKY, BEEN SHOT AT, ALMOST KILLED BY GOING INTO THE DARK! WHICH, BY THE WAY, I THOUGHT WAS MY FRIEND!" he moved on to a tangent. "I DO NOT SIT IN THE DARK TYPING AWAY FOR THE DARK TO TURN ON ME YOU KNOW! AND I WILL NOT CARRY MY PARTNER ANY FURTHER! YOU WILL!" Seizing a health and safety mandated fire extinguisher, he slammed it against the Perspex to punctuate each word. "GIVE! ME! MY! FOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!"

"Mr Cecil? Is your snack jammed in the machine again?" a voice suddenly asked from the side.

Eyes wild, crazy and surprised, Eight turned to the voice to find one of the ship's crew standing before him. With a momentary side glance to see if anyone else around, Eight straightened up and coughed, tongue running along his lips in thought.

"Sir, are you all right?" the digimon asked, head cocked to one side.

And then Eight hit him with the fire extinguisher.

"Ah! Sir! What are you doing!"

"PANICKING!" Eight screamed back, hitting him again and again with puny nerd strength until his arms grew tired and he could not hold it up anymore.

"You...you're not Mr Cecil...are you...ugh!" The digimon was forcibly silenced as Eight managed one last swing with the fire extinguisher that finally knocked the sailor out.

"Gah...huff...there's...a resaon I leave crap like this to the kids..." Eight panted, dropping down to his knees and rooting through the boiler suit the digimon had on, eventually finding some change and a set of keys.

Once Shademon had been fed enough to break open the vending machine himself and loot its contents, the pair began to scurry along the corridors, Eight keeping a close eye on the walls.

"Exactly what are we looking for now?" Shademon asked his partner, a protein bar vanishing into his face as he spoke.

"I now know why Beelzemon said I'd want to 'take care' of the human that was on this ship," Eight explained, air quoting as he did so. "At first I thought he was just trying to be a New York gangster, now I realise he was just being a dick! Ah-hah!" he exclaimed, finding a small panel in the wall and fishing out his stolen keys.

"That didn't answer my question," Shademon continued, conscientiously finding a bin for his litter. Even total monsters had standards.

"It's all well and good that the Panzy Pair and Beelz-bubba have everyone OUTSIDE in an uproar, we need to get everyone inside busy as well," Eight continued his explanation as he rooted around for the allen key needed to open the panel. "So, if we want to take control of the bridge we need to get people away from there first. And this place is rigged with tannoys," he pointed to one of the little speakers on the ceiling as he began to fish around with the wires the hatch concealed. "So I'm gonna instigate some...well, instigation," he smirked, pulling out a microphone and wiring it into the wall.

"Why do you have a microphone with you?" Shademon found himself asking in a kind of dull disbelief.

"My, we're chatty today," Eight snarked, finishing his wiring. "If you must know, I always kept one on me since we teamed up with Etemon in case I felt an urgent need to bust some rhymes."

Words proceeded to fail Shademon.

"Now...let's give this a go."

01000010

Moments earlier upon the bridge Cecil sat in frustration and fury. Panzermon had completely stalled the Exvee's advance thanks to his heavy artillery and ability to leap. Normally Panzermon's quick jumps would carry him too fast and too far to be able to maintain an effective firing practice, but the warship was so big he could not miss and was tearing up the deck and hull slowly but surely. Fingering his digivice, the human contemplated having Hagurumon enter the fray when the tannoy suddenly came to life.

"Hello? Hello? Can anybody hear me?" Eight's voice boomed across the ship.

"What the devil!" Cecil exclaimed, as startled as the rest of the bridge crew.

"Well, I suppose I just answered my own question!" Eight continued, having heard himself on the speakers. "Just goes to show how great I am I suppose."

"Who the HELL is this!" Cecil demanded, hollering into his own mic as he activated the tannoy. "When I..."

"I AM TALKING!" Eight boomed back, whatever bodge job he had done letting his voice over-ride Cecil's, stunning the human into compliant silence. "That's better!" the hacker continued. "Now, I'm in a foul mood, so I'm going to answer your question if so I can hear my own magnificent voice and make you all wet yourselves when you realise what you are dealing with!"

"Sir?" One of the bridge crew looked to Cecil, who was still stunned and trying to work out what exactly was going on.

"I am the world's greatest hacker. I am the man who proved it WAS possible to hack into the Pentagon! I am the man who hacked into Minisoft and made all their computers play pool!. I am EIGHT BALL! But that's not all. Because you see, I know your name...CECIL! And I am not amused..."

A small silence came as Eight Ball inhaled. On the bridge Cecil swallowed deeply, a knot of fear growing in his stomach. He knew this man's reputation, knew how dangerous even the governments of the world thought he could be, and now he was on board his ship.

"Because I am the man who has written thousands of lines of code for Digimon Online. I am the man who would forgo sleep to track down bugs and threats that threatened the game I loved SO much. I am the man who lived a double life in order to pursue the secrets of the Digital World. I am the man who WILL one day get moved to the Japanese branch and get to eat pocky at an overpriced cafe and be served by a cute waitress in an Eevee Cosplay! I am the world's greatest programmer! I AM CECIL JONES! And I do NOT appreciate MY name being associated with MURDER!"

All eyes turned to the human on the bridge, who had begun to sweat and had gained a clutch so tight on the arms of the throne the feared he would break either it or his hand.

"So now...'OTHER' Cecil," the hacker, programmer, Pandai Employee and NS officer continued, his tone even and almost cold, if not for the dangerous smirk it contained. "Now you know who the hell I am...and I don't really care who you are, I've got a different question for you. What the hell are you gonna do about it?"

0100010

Raven: Tonight, we will show you how to cook fresh herring. The best way to start is by using the red variety, it keeps the flavor a lot better that way.

So yeah, we had been planning this reveal for a while. We didn't want to show Eight Ball was Cecil Jones until it was neccessary, and being stuck by himself for who knows how long made the reveal completely un-dramatic. And when he was with Liz and Vincent, nobody cared, so we kept it unknown. But now, a battle of the Cecils begins! Hope you enjoyed the little string-along we had going.

I just realized, this is the 50th chapter. We should prolly do something to celebrate. Hmmm... I know, I'll try and make sure Keyo actually get 51 out on time! Sound good?

Keyo: Ha. Ha ha...No.

Honestly, I don't know how long you'll have to wait for 51, but at least the wait is over for finding out Eight's idenity. L-O, my beloved dahling and proof-reader, has been insisting it was Cecil for years now. So, to those of you who guessed right, congratulations. Now start wondering who this other Cecil is.

This chapter's hard point was the scene with Tanya and Ranamon, and it was also the moment I realised some things I wanted to do here would have to wait until later. Still, I enjoyed BB's assault run on the Exvee. I'm having a hard time getting back into the swing of writing Ranamon's accent, but Eight remains fun to pratter with.

Still, SOOOO much fighting just now...urgh. It feels like we're turning into One Piece...


	51. Chapter 51

"KILL HIM! I WANT HIM FOUND! I WANT HIM FOUND NOW AND HIS HEAD BROUGHT TO ME!" the 'other' Cecil screamed at the bridge crew, into the microphone, his voice reverberating around the entire ship. Blind panic was running rampant in his eyes to such an extent that he looked about to explode in psychotic fury. The digimon on the bridge were unfazed by this. They had been present for the wrath of their own Lord and knew his power, and they were servants of Pride, they would not break from their duty for the tantrums of Yersinimon's pet human.

"DID YOU NOT HEAR ME!?" he screamed, his digivice screeching in a painful note no human musician or torture expert could define. Black light flared about him and Hagurumon's gears spun in rapid excitement as monitors cracked and control panels sparked. "THAT...that man..." he fought down the volume in his voice, trying to calm himself, "That man is not an ordinary human. He is an unparalleled genius...TWO unparalleled geniuses it would seem. That he has pranced his way onto this ship and declared himself so brazenly can only mean we are all in severe danger. He has put himself in the prime place to bring this entire battleship down in flames! Keep only minimal gunnery teams on that walking gun-tower outside! Eight-Ball is the biggest threat to us at this very moment, AND HE HAS TO BE FOUND AND KILLED!"

Meanwhile, many twisting, winding, poorly sign-posted corridors away the target of this furious man-hunt was scheming and plotting, applying the deadly double genius he possessed to the single purpose of disabling the entire warship. The fruit of his mental-loins was to regress back to being a ten-year-old, leap upon Shademon's rather miniscule shoulders, and wrap the pair in the biggest boiler suit they could find.

"We are going to die," Shademon offered up his critique of the plan. "We are going to die and I will drag your insufferable soul down into the depths of deletion with me to forever remind you of your idiocy and to enjoy every moment of your torment."

"You know Shademon, I'm starting to think you don't like this plan." Eight responded. "It's because I get to be on top isn't it?"

"My concerns actually begin with the fact that we had to go back in order to get this confounded suit in the first place," Shademon retorted, waddling along under his partner's weight. "But given that there is no way anyone is going to be fooled by a boiler suit and a tinfoil hat, I stand by my original assessment. We are going to die."

"You forget, terrible disguises are a mainstay of the digimon franchise. They always work, and thus I predict this plan has a 100% chance of success." The hacker beamed from atop his partner's shoulders and from beneath his snack-wrapper hat. "Well, okay, I'll be modest and say 96%. But YOU try and find a comically oversized trench-coat at a moment's notice."

"Oy! You!" a voice suddenly cried out, causing Shademon to go rigid but Eight to turn about casually, his bundled up posture making him look like a sickeningly independent hunch-back.

"Yes sir!" he beamed jauntily at the digimon he could easily identify as the cyborg fish Coelamon, whose scarred, white armoured body horribly stretched his authority granting uniform.

"Commander Cecil is screaming about the human who made that broadcast earlier, what are you doing dawdling around here?"

"Well sir, with the ship working to confuse Beelzemon I lost track of the way to the bridge."

"I see..." Coelamon nodded, plodding closer to the disguised pair. "I guess I'll have to drag you both there."

Eight smiled in self satisfaction but beneath him Shademon tensed, and on reflex shunted his partner up into the air. And not a moment too soon.

"FOSSIL BITE!" the Coelamon barked the moment it was in range, pouncing at the partners and passing through the gap created by Shademon, shredding the boiler suit to pieces. As elegantly as possible, Shademon shed the remains of the boiler suit, letting Eight slam unceremoniously to the floor. Coelamon, for his part, remained completely oblivious. Gazing down the long hallway, claws still outstretched, the fossil-fish was lost in his own fantasy world of hyper-competency.

"You couldn't fool me," the ancient fish digimon smirked to himself. "The ship was only working against Beelzemon, it would have let any crew pass easily. Your lack of knowledge sealed your fate."

"Okay, so, let's say 90% chance of success and leave it at that," Eight conceded from his less than dignified position, snapping their assailant out of his reverie and forcing him to turn around.

"How did you split in two?" Coelamon gaped, completely shocked by his targets' survival.

"Please don't tell me you were actually fooled by that...effort," Shademon was careful with his word choice; 'plan' was giving it far too much credit.

"That was a disguise!?" the ancient fish digimon gaped even wider, looking as if his primordial mind had been blown.

"You cannot be serious..." Shademon buried his luminescent eyes in his hands.

"I should have known I could never pretend to be a flunky," Eight dusted himself off, and adjusting his tinfoil hat. "New plan! Shademon, beat him up and take his stuff!" With a deft flick of his wrist the hacker produced his digivice.

"This better go somewhere eventually..." the virus scowled, the light of evolution surrounding his body. "Shademon digivolve to..."

"Hey! Cecil's got one of those!"

"ECLIPSEMON!"

01000010

Chapter 51: The Morning Brings...part 3.

This rain is their tears! Let their golden bonds shine!

01000010

Within the confines of Gaiomon's castle another body fell, its data becoming particles on the wind as the Lord of Sincerity continued to fell one assailant after another. Since the assault on his city began, the majority of Pride's soldiers had flocked to him, for whatever had been used to subdue his men had no effect on him. Their efforts had only managed to waylay him but it was clear that this was the true intent. Lucemon only had so many men, however, and he was almost free to join the battle. Never before had it taken him so long to cross the gap between his chair and the window, but as he stepped onto the ledge, he realised it was going to take longer.

"Reveal yourself!" he called, turning and pointing one of his kikurin blades at a closed door, amber eye swivelling to focus on it.

"Tch...I'm impressed Gaiomon. Your senses are as sharp as I'd heard." Pushing against the door, Yersinimon stepped through into the main hall. His long coat made light swishing noises against the hardwood floor and he stroked one long finger against the long beak of his mask.

"I do not recognise you." Gaiomon turned from the windows to fully face the intruder. His posture shifted slightly, preparing himself. Whoever this was, he was strong. "You do not seem..." his eyes fixated completely on the figure before him, trying to work out exactly what it was about him that was so wrong.

"There is no need for you to question what I am." Yersinimon stepped to one side, clearing the door-way. "You will not live to know the answers."

"I can appreciate Lucemon trying to waylay me to gain an advantage. But I do not think that you are another of his minions."

"Tch, I'll grant you that. I am no servant of Lucemon's. But do not concern yourself with him; he will also not live much longer. But because of your... observational skills, I had to make sure you quite swiftly became a part of my tests."

"Tests?" Gaiomon's eyes widened slightly as two new figures entered the room. The first could almost have passed for a digimon with his wild dress, all fish nets and torn trousers, with a ridiculous clawed metal glove and a white mask bearing the digital-hazard, but Gaiomon could sense no power from him. He was human. The other...the other was a mismatch of creatures. The long blade ears of a Prairiemon lay sleek down his back, stemming from the top of his head, a head that belonged in part to Kabuterimon and Greymon, whose jaw bled into a matching body, but Garurumon legs. Kabuterimon claws and Gorillamon cannon, Birdramon and Airdramon wings...Gaiomon could name every body part but could give no name to this creature, this abomination who reeked of death and...and that same distortion the masked digimon seemed to emit.

"Tch, it is complex," Yersinimon waved him off. "And even for all that you are, you would have no hope of understanding the truth. Just die knowing you could have been a threat; it's more than the other Lords could hope to do. ExAiVee, we will begin phase one of the test."

"With pleasure!" the large chimera-like beast boomed, raising his Gorillamon arm and opening fire, Gaimon immediately moving, his swords parrying with such force that the shots dissipated before his blades.

'Stronger than most champions could summon, but still nowhere near the power of a mega...' Gaiomon analysed. 'However, neither of these beings feel right. I should end this fight as quickly as possible...but I don't want to risk getting close to that...thing...' his golden eyes drifted for a moment to Yersinimon, eerily silent and still. 'He simply is not...right.' Swirling his swords around, blue flames burning into life along the edge of the blades. "RINKAZAN!" he cried, rushing forward like a bolt of black lightening, the burning blue trailing in his wake. Rather than simply strike, he threw the blades to each side of him, leaping straight over the mix-and-match-monster, being wary of the masked-doctor-digimon.

"What are you..." the creature struggled to turn fast enough to track the Lord of Sincerity.

Landing, Gaiomon pivoted to catch his blades, the Kikurin spinning and curving through the air, landing within their owner's claws, the blue light now encircling the three intruders. "RINKAGEKI!" he called, pulling the burning blue together upon them, the light slicing through 'ExAiVee' but vanishing into nothingness upon contact with Yersinimon, who the human wisely hid behind.

"What are you?" Gaiomon's yellow eyes widened. Surviving his Rinkageki was certainly possible, but Yersinimon had been completely unaffected. He had not flinched or moved; his clothes were not ruffled let alone cut or burnt.

"I told you, chk...The knowledge will be of no use to you," Yersinimon's head tilted slightly to allow him to fix his gaze upon ExAiVee. "The damage you sustained was well within parameters. Switch parts and prepare for phase 2."

"Yesshhhh..." the creature slurred, its lower jaw having been obliterated by the last attack, before all damaged body parts began to shift and fade, replaced by fresh different ones.

"How is that..."

"Yes, yes...you're surprised and cannot comprehend our abilities," Yersinimon waved his hand in indication of his disinterest. "ExAiVee, H3, begin phase 2, chk."

With a silent nod, the masked human raised one hand, revealing the digivice embedded into his flesh. "You got it boss, kehhehehehehehehehehe!" he laughed, light seeming to flood through his veins and into the device before surrounding his body like an aura. The same blood red light began to dance over ExAiVee, whose body suddenly began to spasm wildly, hundreds of different voices began to sound at once.

"DIGIVOLUTION!"

...

"The data...it's acting weird..."

Sat upon the approximate collar bone of Panzermon, B.B did not seem perturbed by the gun-fire, explosions, rapid leaping and general mind-numbing terror he should quite rightly have been experiencing at this moment. Perhaps it was due to his experiences so far in the digital world, or perhaps it was that sheer faith in his partner kept him calm enough to observe, but whatever the case, he had noticed the streams of data flowing towards their battleship-class adversary.

"It's like it's devouring all of the data that breaks..." he pondered aloud. "Panzermon! Do you think it's absorbing all the data from the city?"

"Kaiser...I'm afraid I can't really talk just now," his partner managed a quick response before making a leaping strafe again, heavy gunfire ripping up the ground where he had once stood. None of his forms had ever exactly been the speedster type. Sure, he had occasionally relied on being a faster shot than his opponents, but speed of the draw was generally accompanied by the use of overwhelming fire-power. Quite frankly it felt absurd and rather offensive to his status as a 'living gunnery platform' to have to DODGE like this but he had the good sense to admit when he was out-classed and out-gunned. In fact, he was rather impressed that his partner had displayed enough foresight not to push for a full frontal assault. The boy was clearly growing up. It would have warmed his heart, but a mix of biological impossibilities and mortar shells kept him from appreciating it.

"GESCHOSSABLE!" he roared with his weapon fire, the bullets ripping through the air and into the mortars, filling the air with explosions.

"But Panzermon if it's eating the data...does that mean it's a digimon? Or is charging something up something else?"

"I'M A LITTLE BUSY KAISER!" his partner shouted over the roar of his own machine guns as the next wave of mortars and missiles were launched.

"Oh yeah..." B.B became fully aware of the situation again as explosions filled the sky, the force from his partner's leap blasting the air from his lungs and near slamming him down into Panzermon's armoured shoulder. "Yeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh hhhhhh!"

"DOUBLE IMPACT!"

"CROSS FIRE!"

"VALOUR BURST!"

Crying out in unison the hastily formed alliance opened up with their ranged attacks, bullets, fireballs and a burning stream of holy judgement hurtled towards the Lord of Pride intent upon ripping his body asunder. Having other ideas, Lucemon slammed one foot on the ground with enough force to not only send the flag stones flying but to rupture a gas pipe beneath the surface of the street. Spilling into the air the gas was immediately ignited by the fire attacks causing the entire line to explode, engulfing the street in flames.

"RUN!"

"LIZ!"

"VINCENT!"

As Beelzemon made a colossal leap into the air, ClayDrakemon and D-Greymon bolted to the side, towards where they had last seen their partners. The humans would have no chance of out-running the flames or surviving them, and every instinct in their bodies screamed to protect them. The fact that the alleyway was not built to accommodate a being of D-Greymon's size was no deterrent, the angelic dino tearing through the masonry in the rush to reach his partner. Spying the pair huddled together D-Greymon reached out with his massive grey hand and scooped them up, soaring into the sky with ClayDrakemon close by, the explosion chasing them for several feet.

"What the hell happened?" Liz cried out, looking down at the damage that had torn a crater in the city.

"Well, Beelzemon showed up to help, then Lucemon stomped his foot and this happened," her partner swiftly explained.

"He's THIS powerful?" Vincent gaped at the destruction. Whole buildings had been obliterated and the air was filling with trails of data from ruined surroundings and slain Digimon.

"Not quite..." ClayDrakemon admitted. "He kinda just used our attacks to ignite the gas..."

"I don't believe this..." Vincent sank his face into his hand as Liz gazed on in horror.

"Believe it," Lucemon's smug voice came from above, calling their attention upwards to see the fallen angel framed by the sun. His hands were clasped together and when he began to spread them open, ten burning spheres started to appear in cruciform before him, only to be swiftly and brutally interrupted.

"Dattebayo sucker!" a new female voice sang out as bullets hammered into the fallen angel's back, before Beelzemon completed his aerial drop and slammed his steel boot into the back of Lucemon's skull.

"Holy crap he can jump!" ClayDrakemon marvelled. Even without wings Beelzemon had travelled higher and faster than him. This was the terrifying gap between megas and ultimates.

"We can't keep fighting here," Vincent pierced his partner's reverie. "The death toll is only going to go up if we stay amongst the houses."

"This city doesn't have a lot of space in it," Liz fretted, looking out from her partner's palm. "If we could get him out of the walls it might help but..."

The air suddenly rushed around them as Paradise Lost and Dark Claw collided, the force of their attacks shuddering the world around them. The burning light of Lucemon's punch overwhelmed Beelzemon's open-palm, tossing the Lord of Gluttony to the ground.

"Guys, Beelzemon's starting to lose down there," D-Greymon interrupted, gesturing with his free hand to the streets below.

Berenjena shotguns strewn to either side of the street, Beelzemon was sprawled flat on his back, hands up about his face in a meagre effort to shield himself as Lucemon was knelt over him, pummelling the ironically slender Lord of Gluttony. A crater was forming beneath Beelzemon's head, cobblestones and dirt flying with each blow.

"Okay, you guys, you gotta get back in there," Liz announced, her eyes focusing on the bludgeoning.

There was no discussion, no need to explain why. It was not simply the need for Beelzemon to defeat Lucemon but their instinctive drive to defend any who counted as their comrades. The refusal to let Lucemon rampage whilst they sat thinking. ClayDrakemon immediately put himself into a dive, heading straight for the Lord of Pride whilst D-Greymon took a shallower course, skimming rooftops long enough to let the humans safely jump from his palm. He was going to need that massive claw after all.

"Brace yourself," Vincent's voice was almost deadpan. He wanted to think just now, come up with a plan, but he knew what was about to happen. All he could do was reaffirm his grip on his childhood friend and hold on, she doing the same to him.

In mere moments it hit. Their partners reached Lucemon and lashed out, striving to push him back from Beelzemon and were each met with a single savage counter blow that smashed them into the ground. The link between partners flared and the two humans found themselves holding back screams as they struggled to stay upright. It sucked. It was terrible. But all they could do was try and stay standing so their partners could keep going. Even if the ultimates could only stand for a moment at a time against the mega, that moment was all they needed.

"Darkness Claw!" Beelzemon roared, slamming his great talon bearing hand into Lucemon's face, a dark miasma seemed to burn around it. Lucemon screeched in pain as the black light seared his flesh, causing him to reel up and away from his prone opponent, hands clutching at his face.

"Catch!" ClayDrakemon hollered as he swept up one of the fallen shotguns and lobbed it over to its rightful owner…

…in a tragically clumsy toss that sailed right past said rightful-owner's outstretched claw.

"WHAT THE HELL!? WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO THROW!?"

"I'VE NEVER HAD A LOT OF CALL TO DO IT!"

"CROSS FIRE!"

Ethereal flames slammed into Lucemon, whose temporary blindness left him off balance enough to actually be toppled by D-Greymon's attack, letting Beelzemon scrabble free and reclaim the berejena himself.

"This is just gettin' humiliatin'..." he grumbled as he scurried, before swivelling around into a rather awkward seated position to take aim and fire. "DOUBLE IMPACT!" he cried, loosing bullets into D-Greymon's flames and Lucemon's body, taking over driving the Pride Lord back as the angelic dinosaur ran out of breath and his attack tapered out. "GRAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! JUST FALL YOU SMUG SON OF A..."

*CLICK*

The sound of the berejena's hammer slamming on an empty chamber was an oddly loud and powerful sound. The whole battle seemed to halt as the bullets failed to emerge and all eyes seemed to move to the smoking barrels.

"Oh c'mon, are you powered by dramatic convenience or..."

"GRAND CROSS!" Lucemon snarled, spreading his arms out wide and summoning his cross of spheres once again, assured that this time his attack would not be interrupted. Leaping forward, ClayDrakemon and D-Greymon did their best to halt him, seizing his arms but simply found their clawed feet digging up the ground as they were effortlessly moved back.

"NO WAY!" ClayDrakemon cried out at his own helplessness, the ten spheres launching out and swirling into a single deadly spiral that ploughed into Beelzemon, who could only throw his arms over his face in a vague effort of defence. The attack did not stop at the demon lord, however, and continued on, pushing him through house after house, ripping up street after street, data swirling into the air as buildings and occupants expired into a stream of data.

"Now, where was I?" Lucemon looked between the ultimates in the middle of their failed grapple, the snarl still in his voice and his face slightly singed from Beelzemon's darkness claw. With a casual flick of each arm, Lucemon threw the Nightmare Soldiers off and into the burning trench where Beelzemon had once sat.

"Ah, that's right. I was hoping you could entertain me," a smirk seemed to try and sneak its way back onto Lucemon's face. "I'll admit, Beelzemon showing up was a little surprising, but I would have had to kill him eventually anyway." Winding back a hand he tightened it into a fist, the air around it seeming to hum with energy.

"Reminds me of when we fought Magnamon," ClayDrakemon did his best to smirk, trying to hide his concern with bravado.

"We lost horribly and almost died," D-Greymon looked down at his shorter comrade.

"We're a lot stronger now though."

Neither wanted to think about how they were also less: that they would never be all together again. Each could feel the same emotional shudder, that their partners were having the same thoughts. But this was not the time for such fears.

"Here we go," the winged dinosaur growled, the two springing forward.

Only to be forced to a dead stop as Lucemon leapt towards them, his palms slamming into their faces and knocking the pair flat on their backs. His fingers closed around ClayDrakemon's head, however, as he lifted the dragon knight into the air.

"Sadly, I have come to the conclusion that this is not going to happen," he sighed, before slamming the ultimate down into the ground. "Unless..." he pulled ClayDrakemon back-up, then swinging him down again. "I. MAKE. MY. OWN. FUN!" He punctuated each word by smashing the dragon knight back into the ground, his armour cracking, breaking and splintering with each impact.

"GET OFF OF..." D-Greymon began to roar, only for Lucemon to casually throw ClayDrakemon into the angel-dino's head, bowling him over.

"By seeing how long it takes for you to break," he grinned, stalking over to the pair as dark clouds rolled in, standing over the winged dinosaur, winding his arm back. "Paradise Lost..."

Away on the roof-tops Liz collapsed, bringing the unsteady Vincent down with her as pain erupted outward from her chest, all breath escaping her as Lucemon's fist fell. There was no time for Vincent to call out to her before similar pain and force rocketed through his body, Lucemon's powerful blows falling one after another upon their partners.

"V...Vincent..." she choked, awkwardly struggling to reach out to her friend.

"Liz..." he croaked, finding the simple action equally hard.

It felt like it was taking the all of their strength to cross the tiny distance, but relief swept through both as their fingers finally made contact and linked together, a smile briefly gracing their faces, the same thought sweeping through their minds: 'We won't be separated again'.

And then...

"PARADISE LOST PUNCH!"

Pain.

Ranamon's chest was burning, her legs were aching, and she felt like she was only two paces away from collapsing. But with every step she heard explosions and saw fire in the sky and her resolve strengthened and pushed her forward. Everyone else was fighting, struggling, putting their lives on the line...she could keep running!

There was no-one to stop her as she raced past the security desk, but that was hardly a surprise. She could think of only one way that she could help, but she would need water. Lots of water. The ringing of her bare-feet upon the metal stair-case began to drown out the far-off explosions as her nerves began to bubble up from her gut, blocking out even the burning in her chest. She could scarcely believe what she was about to try, hell, she could scarcely believe what she was doing at this very moment. It wasn't the first time her life was on the line, but before she would always run...hide...this was the first time she was going to stand up for herself...for her friends.

Reaching the top of the stairs she stood panting and gasping, readying herself for the task ahead. She had her doubts as to whether or not she could succeed, as to whether or not she could make it through this...

"But if everyone else can try...so can Ah...WHIPPIN' WAVES!"

Crying out she burled her arms around and around, reaching and seizing control of the water within the massive vat and swirling it around and around, turning the edges of it into a razor sharp blade. Whipped into a frenzy, the blade like water sawed through the steel top of the tower, prompting the frog digimon to swing her arms up, transforming the water into a fist of a wave, punching the top up and away, sending it sailing to the ground with a loud crash.

Watching the water settle back into a still mirror, Ranamon battled against a rising sense of panic. What she was about to try was INSANE, but it was the only way she could think to help...to save everyone...if not her.

"Komo-Komo...Tanya..." her blue hands tightened into fists. "Yah'll could do this, couldn't yah... No matter how scared..." sniffing, she found herself shaking. "You guys...Ah can do this...right? Ah can do this...and yah'll win... and we'll all be able to go on together... we'll...RAAAAAARGGHHHHHHHHH!"

Screaming out she slammed her hands down upon the lip of the tower and hopped over the edge, continuing with her heart stirring, yelling to drown out her fears.

"WE'LL WIN AND BE TOGETHER AHGAIN!"

Splashing down into the water she reached out to it, ALL of it. She had to grab as much of it as she could, not just what was in the tower but the pipes it connected to, the pipes that ran through the whole city. A strain began to pull on her mind as she pushed every limit she possessed, and when they were reached she kept going. She screwed her eyes shut so that she could not see the data particles that began to flake from her body as the strain of her endeavour began to literally tear her apart. When at last she felt she could reach no further she began her next Herculean task... pulling it all up and into the sky.

"DRAININ' RAIN!"

The water began to roar around her bubbling words, and she focused on pushing it up and on, her own scream becoming lost within the water's rush as her body struggled to hold, streams of data breaking off and being swept away into the sky.

In the sky a single, great, black, heavy cloud began to form. Blanketing the sky over Tsyunoinoichi and blotting out the sun, a great shadow was cast over the whole of the city until at last the rain began to fall.

As the great cloud gathered Liz and Vincent lay together upon the rooftop, fingers still tightly intertwined as they struggled to even breathe, whilst down below Lucemon surveyed his handy work.

"I'll admit, you've impressed me," he grinned at the beaten and broken forms of the Nightmare Soldiers. "I didn't think you'd survive this long."

The fire breathing pair could not even gasp in response, let alone glare or spit at their enemy. ClayDrakemon's armour was all but gone and his cape had been shredded, his sword snapped and his helmet crushed into his skull. D-Greymon's long arm was clearly broken in several places and his body sagged from where he had tried to withstand. And from both of their bodies data leaked into the air, the code that held them together could hold out no longer.

"Your resolve is truly remarkable. Any lesser being would have dropped down from ultimate by now, desperately trying to survive but not you two. No. Surviving isn't what you're after. You aren't even trying to stall me. You actually tried to beat me, ME!"

His foot connected with a sick crunching noise against ClayDrakemon's gut, toppling the beaten dragon onto his stomach. Coughing from the blow, he could only watch as the Demon Lord began to slowly walk away, whilst the first drops of rain descended from above.

"I think you've been resilient enough to earn my ire. To die slowly here in the streets. No blaze of glory. Only the misery of your deaths, your failures as you watch each other fade away to nothing. For while you are resilient," he paused, but did not look back at the ultimates, "your data is just not worth consuming."

He stopped short, however, when ClayDrakemon's claw lashed out and seized Lucemon's ankle. Surprised, Lucemon turned to look back at the dragon who a moment ago could barely breathe, and who now glared up at him with burning eyes.

"You...you don't get to walk away yet..." he growled. "This ain't about beating you; this is about crammin' your lies back down your ugly throat."

"Lies?"

"Rana-Rana ain't your servant. She's our friend." Beneath the remains of his armour his body stirred, muscles tensing.

"And where does this renewed conviction spring from?" Lucemon smirked, idly contemplating completely crushing his prone opponent's head beneath his boot.

"First...ain't no 'renewed' about it..." ClayDrakemon sucked in a deep breath. "Second...this ain't rain..." his other hand clenched, his claws scraping through the dirt as Lucemon's eyes widened the tiniest fraction in confusion before his broken opponent seemed to un-break himself. "IT'S RANAMON'S TEARS!"

Roaring, the dragon knight surged to his feet, his fist rising with him, aiming straight for Lucemon's head. The Demon Lord's surprise at his revival did not slow his reaction enough for it to hit, however, and he seized the scarlet claw in his own hand.

"HER HOPE!" ClayDrakemon was undisturbed by the block, his other arm rushed in only to be similarly intercepted.

"What are you..." Lucemon began to ask, only to be drowned up by a third roar.

"HER LOVE!" ClayDrakemon's head swung down, and Lucemon was out of hands, and his armoured head met Lucemon's.

The attack should have bounced off, done more harm to the beaten skull of the dragon knight, but the red light that had been growing around him surged briefly and Lucemon found himself staggered, his grip on Claydrakemon's fists held, but he found himself actually taking a step back.

And then he saw D-Greymon surge up, claw bright and swinging.

"GUILTY INNOCENCE!"

Upon the roof Liz and Vincent's found breathing getting easier, the strength returning to their legs. Leaning upon one another, they slowly made their way upright again.

"I can feel it too..." Vincent smiled softly. "All the pain and exhaustion..."

"It's being washed away..." Liz finished, holding a hand out and watching the rain splash down upon her palm. "Ranamon...how are you doing this?" she turned her eyes up to the sky, to the mass of black clouds that blanketed the sky. Something far, FAR, larger than the rookie should have been able to summon.

As with their partners, the flames of evolution began to dance around them once more. The orange and red auras sparkling in the gloom, Ranamon's rain not only relieving them of their suffering, but letting their own hope and resolve flow once more.

"Heh..." Vincent chuckled, holding his free hand out alongside Liz's, watching the way the light it produced shimmered through the falling water before joining her in looking at the cloud covered sky. "We're fighting Lucemon...and Ranamon blotted out the sun...leaving us as the brightest light around..."

"I think you're gonna have to explain that one to me..." Liz glowered in good humour.

"Heh...Long story short? Enough holding out against a God. Let's just beat this asshole down!" he beamed back, his aura growing as he did so.

"Now you're talking," Liz burst into a bright smile of her own, her orange flames licking at Vincent's red ones as her hand squeezed his.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Lucemon bellowed as D-Greymon hit him again, causing him to skid back down the street. Stronger. They were actually getting STRONGER! They had been at their weakest moments ago, but now he FELT their blows, and their force could move him. He did not feel he was in any REAL danger yet but was this the power that Yersinimon had been studying? The true depths of it?

"RAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!" ClayDrakmeon flew on tattered wings, the bright red flame burning around him as he lashed out with his fists, a few blows actually connecting with Lucemon's gut and chest, pushing him further back before the Demon Lord managed to regain his footing and swing down with his own mighty fist.

"DIE!" he shouted, a little of his concern slipping out before his eyes completely betrayed his shock as ClayDrakemon caught the fist in both hands and braced himself, holding his ground against a blow that moments ago had been used to pummel him into a crater. "How?"

"You're so obsessed with your own strength and satisfaction you can't feel Ranamon's wishes, even as they fall all around us..." ClayDrakemon explained, keeping a tight hold on Lucemon's fist. "How can you even BEGIN to comprehend 'HOW'?"

"I don't have to comprehend how!" Lucemon's face twisted into a psychotic smirk. "All I need to know is that your power defies all reason and to prove –" rather than try and free his arm from ClayDrakemon's grip, he swung upward, hefting the glowing knight into the air, "–I CAN CRUSH IT!"

As he swung down however, ClayDrakemon simply released his grip and transformed his cape back into wings, and soared away, letting Lucemon swing his barren fist down to crush empty street, keeping him off balance enough for D-Greymon to swoop down upon him. Brimming with power, the angel-dino clamped down on Lucemon's head with his massive jaws, biting down as hard as he could, delivering a somewhat muffled version of his attack call as his wings fanned out.

"CHOSS FAOH!"

Silver flames poured down upon the Demon Lord, burning away at his body and at some point amidst the bright light he realised he was screaming in pain. The flames were actually burning and hurting and searing his flesh. Howling, he reached up and seized each side of the Nightmare Soldier's jaws and began to prise the beast away from his body, pushing far enough that D-Greymon had to stop his attack, lest he choke on his own flames.

"I'll rip you in half!" he cheered, wrestling with the angelic jaws.

"No, I'll slice you in two!" ClayDrakemon dashed forward, his sword recovered and enveloped in the bright red glow of his body, growing more intense as he cried out his attack. "BRAVER!"

"Moron, telegraphing like that," Lucemon chided, swinging D-Greymon around by his jaws to toss him at his brother, only to find that rather than resist him, the holy-dino jumped with the throw. Keeping control of his own momentum, D-Greymon twisted as best he could, swinging his colossal claw up behind ClayDrakemon, who leapt up, letting himself be thrown towards the Demon Lord at even greater speeds.

"You...PARADISE LOST!" Light shone forth from his clenched fist. His instincts were screaming warnings they had not needed for years. Just using punches and kicks would not be enough; he would crush them with REAL attacks. "PUNCH!"

Like lightening his arm lunged forward, with a speed and power ClayDrakemon could not hope to match, but even without a long wind-up to broadcast it, the dragon knight found the attack to be all-together too predictable. For as that devastating arm began to fall, his cape wings twisted ever so briefly, changing his direction ever so slightly and letting him shoot right past the terrifying blow, whilst his blade rose up, under and through.

"Wh...wh...wh..." Lucemon gazed to his side, eyes wide with panic and confusion. He had expected entertainment, hoped for a challenge maybe...but this?

"I once saw Yasyamon injure two ultimates by turning their attacks against them," ClayDrakemon smiled, twirling his large sword as he turned back to face the Demon Lord. "I figured you aren't all that different from your bullying underlings, so..."

"You...you..." Just down from Lucemon's gaze was his arm, and nearer still was the stump it had once been attached to. Boosted or not, ClayDrakemon's Braver would likely never have cut deep, let alone straight through the Demon Lord, but the force of his Paradise Lost Punch had essentially pushed his own body right through the blade. As the fringes of the arms data began to break down and drift away, the Lord of Pride seemed to snap. "YYYOOOOUUU!"

"Hey, don't fixate," ClayDrakemon cautioned, pointing his blade over Lucemon's shoulder, prompting the Demon Lord to turn just in time to see D-Greymon's claw bearing down on him once more.

"GUILTY INNOCENCE!"

With his remaining arm Lucemon turned and caught the oversized claw, the ground cracking beneath his feet as he did because the force was so great. His gloved hand burned as his frantic eyes gazed up into D-Greymon's fierce ones, made all the more intense by the burning aura surrounding him.

"I warned you I'd tear you in half..." he growled.

"And you were just told not to fixate," D-Greymon gave the smuggest grin a dinosaur could.

"BRAVER!" ClayDrakemon raced forward once more. Lucemon struggled to lash out with a leg and kick him away, but the pressure exerted by D-Greymon was keeping him from having his balance. Unable to dodge or counter-attack, he gasped in pain and shock as ClayDrakemon's blade pierced deep into his chest.

"H...how...?" he stuttered, gazing at the implausible blade protruding from his body. Hadn't he just been thinking that the sword could never pierce him on its own?

"Heh...it's not only Ranamon's wishes you're blind to," ClayDrakemon chuckled.

"We're not the only ones wounded," D-Greymon picked up. "Were you so quick to forget Beelzemon?"

Looking back down, his breathing as frantic now as his eyes, Lucemon understood. ClayDrakemon's sword had lanced into a hole created by Beelzemon's berenja. Knowing that the Nightmare Soldier had taken advantage of work done by his fellow Demon Lord did not ease the seething rage that was beginning to hiss from between the Pride Lord's teeth.

"I told you, someone so obsessed with their own strength and satisfaction could never comprehend 'how'," ClayDrakemon smirked.

"Ultimately, we aren't all that strong," Liz smiled, looking down from the rooftop, Vincent's hand still tightly in her's. "But we're not just fighting for us."

"We're fighting with everyone's lives and wishes on our shoulders," Vincent picked up, his red aura now mingling with Liz's, the two blending together as he unconsciously squeezed her hand. "But because of that, those same lives and wishes hold us up and give us the strength to go on."

"In short," D-Greymon snorted, red now weaving through his aura as orange appeared in ClayDrakemon's. "We ain't got nothin' to prove, so we'll lean on each other as much as we have to."

"Sentimental...BABBLING!" Lucemon raged, light pouring into his hand. "PARADISE LOST..."

Before the attack could be completed, both Nightmare Soldiers leapt back, putting as much distance between themselves and the Pride Lord as they could. Their exhaustion and pain may have been washed away, their hope and bonds may have been pushing their strength to new heights, but they didn't want to take that hit at all, let alone at such close distance.

"Such nonsense...such babbling...I have crushed sentimental fools before and I will do it again! I destroyed the Lord of Friendship MYSELF! This trinket of Yersinimon's..." his hand slammed down upon his chest. "I don't need it! I'll end you here and now with my own power!" With only one hand now, he brought it up before him as if about to deliver a Buddhist prayer. The absence of a limb did not impede his intention though as ten burning spheres once again began to appear in cruciform before him. "I am a mega...I am the Demon Lord of Pride...I AM AS GOD BEFORE YOU!"

'Ranamon, Vincent, Liz, D-Greymon'

'ClayDrakemon, Liz, Vincent, Ranamon'

'Liz, ClayDrakemon, D-Greymon, Ranamon,'

'Vincent, D-Greymon, ClayDrakemon, Ranamon'

Names, thoughts, feelings, fear, hopes all poured through the gathered four. A single realisation was so apparent to them all in this moment. Lucemon was right; he was as God before them with his terrible power. But it didn't matter, they were together. To defy God was to do the impossible, and together, they KNEW they could do just that. Unnoticed by either human, a single word had appeared on both of their digivices.

'CONNECT'

And the red and orange flames became one, a single bright shining gold, and the feelings of strength within them magnified and burned hotter. The impossible could quite frankly go and delete itself.

"GRAND CROSS!" Lucemon bellowed, palm extending and prompting the ten miniature suns to fly forth at his enemies, their heat tore up anything remotely close as they converged into a swirling mini-galaxy of destruction.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Liz and Vincent roared in defiance, clinging to each other to remain standing, their clasped hands thrust out as they poured every last ounce of strength they could towards their partners. The mere presence of the other seemed to turn that 'every last ounce' into a bottomless well of resolve, fury, love, hope, courage, and all other things that were capable of breaking the impossible.

"GUILTY INNOCENCE!"

"BRAVER!"

Bursting forward, the golden light made the pair of digimon feel like they were made of lightening. Energy seemed to be surging through every bit of their code and their whole forms seemed golden as they raced on, the rain only making them brighter. As one they rushed straight for Lucemon's attack, knowing that through their souls were all more than willing, their bodies were near collapse. This was to be the final exchange, and where Ranamon had given them their chance by blotting out the sun, they would resolve it by piercing through ten. In a flash the two forces collided, causing an eruption of light that lit the whole of the city as stars met with soul and for a moment Lucemon smiled, sure of their annihilation. But then he realised that the roar of the explosion was over, that the suns had dimmed and been extinguished, and that the light that filled the city was no longer from the collision, but the burning aura of his attackers.

"No...NO! NOOOOO!" Lucemon cried out, swinging his fist around. He could overcome this, he WOULD overcome this! He was the Lord of Pride! His strength was absolute! He needed no-one and his own hands could shatter the heavens! He would KILL THEM!

And then sword, claw, and golden light were upon him.

01000010

**Raven: **Still alive! And with ice cream. No cake though, sorry.

So this chapter was a pain and a half to write, if the large amount of time we spent working on it was any indication. These next few chapters are going to be a little busy with all of the fighting going on, and it's hard to really get the pacing right. So... we are still here, and we are still working on this, but it is going to take us a while due to all of the business we have written ourselves into. Long story short, please bear with us. We are not leaving, and we love to know that people are still reading. It's just gonna take probably ten years to get this complete.

So all of that said...fighting happens! I'll let Keyo go into detail in this chapter, as he has had to suffer through writing it all these months.

**Keyo: **No, I'm not making excuses. I'll say sorry though, not as much as Rave though. I just need to write more.

So, quick catch up on the important things in my life that have happened since I last posted. I got engaged to L-O (our wonderful beta) and learned how to ride a motorbike. That's about it I guess. Oh, and I got three jobs. Who says it's a terrible economy?

The biggest thing I've learned from this chapter is to break down my massive fights more. Once I decided to focus the fight entirely on Lucemon it was just much smoother to write. That, and re-discovering my love for the 5Ds sound-track...that music really helped.

Now, before anyone flips their lid at one particular comment in this chapter...yes, Lucemon referred to himself as a Mega. Given he has never appeared in a series where levels matter, and the other Demon Lords are all Megas. So, like with Magnamon, consistency won out.

For my final note, the funniest fluff in this chapter was COMPLETELY neglecting Ranamon's accent. I honestly have no idea how I made that screw up.


	52. Chapter 52

"What...what happened?" Kotemon asked himself, slowly sitting up and nursing his helmeted head with a long sleeve. He felt...groggy and...and...drugged. That thought caused the pinprick of his eyes to light up brighter. He was back in Tsyunoinoichi. Who could have drugged him? Why would they have drugged him? He tried to sit up but found that his legs weren't fully awake yet. Rather than sit and wait it out, he propped himself up with his shinai. He NEEDED information, he could barely stand, barely think...he needed to wake himself up. Through the haze that muffled all of his senses he managed to pick out the sound of rain. His blurry eyes focused on the window and he hobbled over towards it. Practically collapsing onto the ledge he rolled himself over and dangled his head out, letting the water fill up his mask and attempting to drench himself into alertness. He was a little surprised at HOW fast the water revived him, soon sitting up-right and spluttering, soaking up the sight of his bed in the barracks, the stark emptiness of it now that all of the Sharp Company were gone. Looking back out the window he gawked at the destruction that peppered the town; the sight of Panzermon apparently duelling with Lucemon's warship; and that the red flowers that had been strewn throughout town had all withered and died.

"What happened?" Kotemon numbly repeated to himself, before being blinded by a golden light. Blinking away the dazzling spots in his eyes he managed to grasp hold of his senses. "GUARDS! SHURIMON! MY LORD" he cried, running out of the room.

01000010

Of Blood and Binary.

Chapter 52: The morning brings...pt4

01000010

"SILK SHOWER!"

Yellow bolts of light flew through the air as OzLykiomon continued to bound from rooftop to rooftop. Tiles flew through the air and chimneys were demolished as the moonlight wolf kept one step ahead of the faux-flower digimon. The rain was pouring down hard and fast and the tiles were becoming slick and slippery which would have been a problem if not for OzLykiomon's nature. Her frigid paws froze the water instantly, and her claws had no problem digging in and finding purchase upon the ice. It was, after all, her elemental speciality. Tanya, however, was having to apply far more effort not to fall, clinging tightly to her partner's fur, her face was buried deep in the damp fur, the wet dog smell not helping her spinning head and turbulent stomach.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," she managed to utter to herself in greater moments of clarity amidst the screeching panic that filled her mind. She had a plan, a fairly decent one, but her nerves and her physical strength were kind of at a low. So having entrusted her partner with her very simple instructions she simply focused on holding on tight and not losing control of her bodily functions. "Just run, just keep running," she urged amidst her mutterings and general terrified whimpering.

"Just give up!" SilkLilamon shouted between shots. "You can't lose me, and if you won't fight back this can only end one way!"

More yellow shots rained down, more roof-tops were vandalised and demolished as OzLykiomon continued to bound away. She actually was sure she COULD escape the faux-flower digimon. She knew that she was REALLY, REALLY fast and could run REALLY far if she wanted to, but Tanya had told her not to. And not just because going REALLY, REALLY fast could knock Tanya off but because it was the best way to beat SilkLilamon without hurting her. Not that OzLykiomon really understood why, but her trust in her partner was absolute and so she endeavoured to follow her instructions as closely as possible.

"Give. Up. And. DIE!" SilkLilamon cried in desperation, as more of her shots failed to connect. The rain was only making things worse for her, making aiming hard and flying only that, but it seemed to be washing away any signs of fatigue in her opponents, rather than slowing them down at all. With relentless fervour she chased the pair, continually frustrated by OzLykiomon's nimble dance through the rain slick city. Deciding the gap between them gave too much of an advantage she poured on all the speed she could. There was no need for covering fire as it was clear the pair would not attack. She would get in close and end this, it was the only way she could see now. A long thorn of light appeared amidst her petals as she readied her Gentle Dagger attack. Diving down she narrowed her eyes, fixing Tanya as her target, her aim steady and true. For as much as she didn't want to do this she could never disobey. To protect Bryony, she had to.

"GENTLE DAG-"

And then there was a flash of light as her powerful ultimate form broke down, leaving her Floramon once more.

"Wh, wha!?" she squeeked, the loss of her petal wings having rendered her a flightless object hurtling down through the air.

"At last!" Tanya exclaimed. "Quick, grab he-AHHHHHH!"

OzLykiomon needed little prompting, leaping into the air before Tanya could finish and snatching the little plant digimon up in her jaws before landing down upon the street and bolting down the road, pouring on slightly more speed now.

"Unhand me!" Floramon shrieked as she wobbled in the lunar wolf's slobbery grip.

"NEVER!" Tanya shrieked back, before plunging her face down in her partner's fur again, a small part of her wondering if she should be embarrassed that even in victory she was running away.

Several streets away Bryony's robotic jog slowed to a halt. Through her eyes Ex-Ai-Ai-Ai had lost track of the battling Digimon and with her hands lifted the choker-bound digivice to get a look at the screen where a small set of words were now displayed:

'Connection Lost'.

However, the hidden monstrosity did not know frustration, and if it had, would have seen no reason for Bryony to show it. The young girl's face remained perfectly, creepily placid as her fingers were used to bring up the map function of the Digivice and she tirelessly set off again pursuing the small blue dot highlighted on the screen.

01000010

The 'other' Cecil had practically curled up into his seat on the bridge, one thumbnail held tightly between his teeth as he applied his mind to wave upon wave of new problems crashing down upon him. Having Eight running loose, hi-jacking the inter-com and who-knows-what-else was terrifying enough for him, but the explosions rocking the hull and the eruptions of machine gun fire were not helping his ability to think. Then the rain had started hammering down upon the ship. SilkLilamon and Bryony hadn't returned yet and after that flash of golden light all contact with Lucemon had been lost.

"We need to recover Lucemon and rendezvous with Yersinimon," he finally decided out loud. "Have the ExVee prepare to charge. We won't waste any more ammunition trying to shoot down that over-armed grasshopper. We'll just run him over!"

"But sir," one of the crew turned to face their acting commander, "what about the bombardment operation? Lucemon's orders were –"

"LUCEMON HAS GONE SILENT!" Cecil barked. "And you can rabbit on about 'pride whatever' but this situation is turning against us. Be glad I'm even picking up your Lord."

"But Lucemon..."

"Be glad," Hagurumon chirped in. "Lu-ce-mon gone." The little gear digimon floated ominously over the crew, his perpetual smile and wide eyes had the appropriate chilling effect. Cecil wasn't just sitting on a title of command at the moment.

"Y-yes sir," the crewman babbled, his eyes never leaving Hagurumon's unblinking ones. "Preparing for ramming speed."

Outside Panzermon sailed through the air in a strafing dive, his two massive cannons levelled at one of the spider-legs.

"ZWEI HOWITZ!" he bellowed as the cannons erupted, sending their colossal shells slamming into the side of the exoskeleton, denting the hardened surface but causing no real damage.

"Damnit!" BB cried as they hit the street, skidding along. "It keeps moving its guns around so we can't hit them, and the legs won't even buckle? This is a rip!"

"We have dealt some damage Kaizer," Panzermon tried to soothe, lifting his machine gun arms up and unleashing Geschossable upon the ship's nine faces before leaping into the air again. "And as long as their focus is on us, they cannot bombard the town."

In the time-honoured fashion of ill-chosen words, the spider-legged warship begun to move forward, heading straight for the heart of the city. Panic did not spread through the rain-soaked pair however, as it was not the first time they had tried this manoeuvre, and they felt sure that the same response would avail them again. Another long leap dropped them down in front of the prow of the mutated vessel and they lowered all guns to focus on a single point.

"GESCHOSSABLE, ZWEI HOWITZ!" Panzermon roared, unleashing his attacks upon the already damaged hull. Each time the warship had attempted to move deeper into the city they had poured their entire arsenal onto a single point, forcing them to resume manoeuvring their guns into position to ward them off. It had been an endurance battle that the Nightmare Soldiers had been losing up until the rain came and left them both feeling fresh. Once again the giant machine gun rounds and colossal cannon shells slammed home, buckling and warping the hull but this time there was a big change.

"They're not stopping..." BB gawked. The hull of the ship was torn wide open and their destructive rain began to tear away at the innards of the vessel, fires sprouting up as fuel lines ruptured and decks that weren't obliterated started to burn.

"Kaizer?"

"They're not stopping." The boy turned and looked at the LONG line of homes containing helpless digimon.

"Kaizer what should we do?"

Green flames began to dance around the boy as he turned back to face the rampaging warship, his small hand taking a tight grip of his digivice. He could do this. They could do this. Vincent and Komodomon were ready to fight an entire army. Liz had run out with a sleeping Agumon to do the same. He was SURE that golden light had been them fighting Lucemon. They could handle ONE little warship.

"PANZERMON!" he shouted as loud as he could. "STOP THAT THING DEAD!"

"YES KAIZER!" his partner responded, his cannons folding away as he raised up his shielded arms. "PANZER KASTEL!" he bellowed, his back legs locking and his whole body braced for impact, ExVee's shadow swamping him as the colossal warship loomed over them.

"WE'RE STOPPING YOU HERE!" BB roared, the green flames about his body swarming over his partner too as the prow slammed into Panzermon's defensive form. The giant spider legs scraped and dug into the ground, scrabbling for purchase as the entirety of the monstrous doom-ship crashed to a sudden halt as the emerald pair held firm.

01000010

"Well, on the upside I feel revitalised in the middle of this disaster," BurningGreymon sighed as he attempted to drop another chimney on top of KnightMeramon who once again defended himself with his electrically charged shield. LoaderLiormon having no greater luck, being warded off with the (equally electrified) flaming sword. "And this has gotten so bad that I'm talking to myself..." He sighed again, glancing down to where Chad and Lily were doing their best to keep well out of the way of the debris and dirt he and LoaderLiormon were lobbing at their juggernaut of an opponent.

"This is hopeless!" Chad wailed, slamming his fist into the side of the alley. "When this rain came and we started to feel great again I thought we could take him, but he isn't slowing down one bit and we still can't touch him!"

"It was a little much to hope, I think, that the rain could put out his fires," Lily sighed. "And I suppose even if it did, it would not change the fact that BurningGreymon's attacks cannot hurt him, nor that LoaderLiormon cannot strike hi-"

"DOWN!" Chad called, grabbing the girl and pulling her further into the alley as silver flames swept down the street, raising the temperature of their former location several hundred degrees in an instant.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking back at the now melted wall.

"Thank you Chad, I'm fine," Lily assured, finding her balance again. "We need to find a way to restrict his movements." She swiftly refocused onto the battle, her glassy eyes glaring off into the distance, one hand bunching into a tight fist. "Which would be a much better observation if it wasn't so obvious," she scowled.

"Perhaps we can be of some assistance?"

Whipping around the pair of humans were confronted with a two Shurimon, bowed down upon one knee before them.

"When did...how did..." Chad sputtered, his brain eventually working itself to the obvious answer of 'because they're ninjas.'

"We thought that everyone in the city was asleep?" Lily chose a question that was not easily answered with the word 'ninja'.

"We...were," one of the Shurimon confessed, shamefaced. "And for that we apologise...we have left the entire defence of our city upon the shoulders of you and your comrades."

"However, something has begun to wake us, and the city itself," the other continued. "Possibly due to our training, the agents in the castle have fully stirred first and have begun to move out."

"What about Gaiomon?" Chad realised there was a lack of mega-level dino-samurai cleaning up the streets.

"There is no sign of him," the first managed to hold his tone steady. "The castle has been torn up from battle and..."

"MOVE IT!" BurningGreymon dropped down by the quartet, grabbing the two humans and launching into the air as the pair of Shurimon vanished in a flurry of leaves. The all consuming wave of fire filled the alleyway as KnightMeramon swung his blade, melting brick, mortar, and rubbish bins in an instant.

"The hell were you two doing spacing out like that?" he chastised, primarily glaring at his partner.

"We uh...found ninjas?" Chad tried to explain.

"I'm curious as to exactly how they intend to help," BurningGreymon grumbled as he circled around, looking for a safe place to drop off the incredibly easy to kill members of their group. "They are rather under-levelled and highly flammable."

"We will grant the restriction of movement that Lily-sama desired," said one of the Shurimon who had suddenly appeared on BurningGreymon's back.

"Sweet ASCII!" the winged NS member exclaimed.

"However, given our level of strength the opportunity we can create for you will be short. Just keep his attention on you for a few moments longer and we will give you the chance you need." With his piece said, his body seemed to explode into leaves once more, leaving BurningGreymon's back bereft of shinobi.

"Well...that was...right," BurningGreymon shook his head in confusion before deciding that it was best to move straight onto the stage of acceptance.

"BURRRRRRN!" KnightMeramon bellowed down below, rushing LoaderLiormon who set his wheels into reverse, spinning his drill mane into the street and spraying the flaming knight with chunks of the ground. Stones and dirt bouncing off his armour, the fused soldier of pride skidded to a halt, bringing his blade around in a horizontal slash to unleash another torrent of flame. Less agile in reverse, LoaderLiormon ending up crashing and falling over himself in an effort to get out of the way, his bulky body partially demolishing a house as he struggled to avoid the super-heated wave.

"Damnit, let's just hope they do something spectacular," Chad growled. "BurningGreymon! Get in there and help LoaderLiormon!"

Sweeping down, BurningGreymon released the pair of humans to a staggering run. Bringing his hands up he released a quick burst of Heat Vulcan to draw his enemy's attention away from his comrade before circling around to ensure that any counter attack did not put the humans in danger.

"BURRRRN!" KnightMeramon roared once more, becoming frustratingly repetitive and monosyllabic.

"WILDFIRE TSUNAMI!" BurningGreymon countered, letting loose with his own big wave of flame. The two forces of fire collided and exploded in a mess of orange and silver that tore up the street. "I might not be able to burn you," he growled, "but I'll be damned if you're going to – WILDFIRE TSUNAMI!"

KnightMeramon had interrupted BurningGreymon's verbal defiance by swinging out with his sword; the unified state of the pride digimon was uninterested in words. The silver flame lashed out again and was met once more by BurningGreymon's more traditionally coloured wave.

Behind him, a low motor rumble emanated from LoaderLiomon's chest as he picked himself up, shaking a kitchen sink from his face. The motor rumble grew as he fixed his eyes onto the gestalt digimon, metal claws digging into kitchen tiles and prepared to leap back into the flame filled frey.

"LoaderLiormon, wait!" Lily normally calm voice sounded bizarrely distorted coming out in such a desperate, hissing whisper.

"Lily-um!" LoaderLiormon's battle ready grimace softened immediately at the sight of his partner as she scrambled with Chad's help through the remains of the house.

"You've got to lie low right now," she explained, placing her hands reassuringly upon her partner's large metal muzzle. "Some friends have appeared and they're going to give us a chance to win this. But it's not going to last long, so we have to be ready to seize it, okay?"

"Grrrooo..." the mechanised beast cooed, clearly not understanding what was going on.

"Just get ready to charge," Lily smiled. "I'll tell you when to go."

"Rrrright!" LoaderLiormon nodded. This was much more within his area of understanding. Whipping back to face the enemy, he dug his claws deep into the floor of the home and revved his engines, burling his wheels around whilst remaining rooted, preparing to launch forward at as high a speed as possible.

"Shurimon..." Lily uttered under her breath. 'I hope you come through for us,'

'D-damnit...' BurningGreymon mentally cursed. Whilst he was able to counter KnightMeramon's attacks, the burning knight was simply being repetitive due to a lack of imagination. Wildfire Tsunami was a full on attack for BurningGreymon, flames summoned from the depth of his soul, but the fire released from KnightMeramon's sword seemed to just be a side effect of swinging his blade with enough force. The Nightmare Soldier was struggling to keep up with the rate of his enemy's attacks and the explosions caused by their attacks colliding were drawing closer and closer to him. Either he would be caught in the blast or burned up by the seemingly all consuming flames. 'Chad's always said I'm the Legendary Warrior of Fire...to have cooler flames than this guy...to not be able to stand his heat...this is just insulting!'

"CRANIUM HILL DROP!"

From the great nowhere that all mythical ninjas could inhabit the pair of Shurimon descended upon KnightMeramon, each lashing out with their coiling limbs to snare an arm before continuing to plummet, slamming straight into the ground and burying themselves.

"WH-WHAT!?" the Pride gestalt spluttered as his arms were locked in place, the full strength of each of the ninjas dedicated to immobilising him. Even together they had no chance of actually fighting the monstrosity, but to battle a single limb each was definitely within their capabilities. And whilst the lightening from KnightMeramon's shield and sword lashed out at them, their well grounded bodies dissipated the deadly charge, rendering them immune to it.

"NOW!" one of them called from his burrow.

"STRIKE!" the other joined, straining against the iron limb.

"BURN!" KnightMeramon bellowed in retaliation. The silver flames that dwelled within his shredded armour swelled and prepared to burst out and engulf the ninjas. Grounded or not, their plant based bodies would have no protection against the searing fire that could melt stone and overwhelm an ultimate.

"AS IF!" BurningGreymon roared, swooping forward and seizing KnightMeramon's shoulders in his sizeable talons, wrapping his wings and as much of his body as he could about his enemy's torso, holding back the flames from his allies. The heat was intense and burned away at his crimson armour and his skin, pain flooding both his and Chad's bodies in spite of the soothing rain. But rather than scream in pain, BurningGreymon howled in defiance. "I AM THE LEGENDARY WARRIOR OF FIRE!" He slammed his horned helm down against KnightMeramon's twisted one, locking eyes with his enemy.

"AND YOU'RE FINISHED!" his partner hollered from the rubble, fingers digging into shards of the wall as he fought down the burning pain.

"LoaderLiormon, NOW!" Tatum directed, one arm lashing out in command.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAA!" The golden lion roared with the cry of an industrial seized engine, letting loose his claws and bursting forward upon his wheels, drill mane spinning as fast as it could as he headed straight for the enemy. "DRRRRRRRRILLLLL RRRRRRRRRUSSHHHH!" he roared as he approached, the mane folding over his muzzle to complete the drill just as BurningGreymon fanned his wings and leapt back. The force of his wings beating down blasted the silver fire in the gestalt's body back and away from the Shurimon just long enough to cover his absence until LoaderLiormon stuck. Once more the sound of metal ripping metal filled the air but this time the blades on LoaderLiormon's mane became red from the heat. Lily's screams of pain were buried by the screech of metal as her partner released the drill shielding over his face and opened his jaws wide as he tore straight through his enemy, bursting out the other side. Landing down on the street again, the mechanical lion skidded in a wide arc, ending up going almost 180 degrees as he stared back at the decimated pride solider. The already rent armour was now just a massive gaping hole with limbs and a head. The silver flames were swarming around its body, but the two Shurimon had already gotten far out of the way. A satisfied smirk flashed across LoaderLiormon's eyes as steam hissed about him from the cool rain meeting his now super heated body, a sphere clamped tight in his jaws.

"The Jogress drive," BurningGreymon chuckled to himself, at ease now that their foe was stricken and paralysed.

A loud CRUNCH snapped from between LoaderLiormon's jaws as his steel fangs bit down upon the drive, crushing it completely, the shards dissolving into flecks of data. "Yup," he chuckled back.

The moment the drive was crushed the devastated body of KnightMeramon collapsed into light, splitting back into SkullMeramon and Knightmon. Their second defeat had not been kind to them, each now torn into halves as their earlier wounds seemed combined with those of their gestalt.

"Inconcievable..." Knightmon gasped, trying to raise his sword and failing, eyes widening as his arm snapped at the joint. The data breakdown was coming fast.

"S'cool brah..." SkullMeramon smiled dimly, or as much as his metal plated face would allow him to. "We kept our pride right? Like Lord Lucemon said...we swung our sword even though we'd lose our heads...and we didn't back down from confrontation..." his eyes slid closed as the breakdown reached his head. "S'cool...we kept our..."

And they were gone.

"Well...that made a victory cheer a little bit tricky..." Chad sighed as he helped Lily navigate the mess that had been the street.

"I do believe that I can happily settle for a sigh of relief," Lily, well, sighed, holding her hands up in a stop gesture as her partner excitedly leapt up to her.

"Lily-um! Lily-um!" he chanted in glee, bouncing up and down before her hands in the barest restraint.

"Calm down, you're still too hot for me to touch," Lily explained. Whist his body no longer hissed with steam from the rain, the strong heat could still be felt emanating for his metal form.

"So, I must ask," BurningGreymon walked over and placed a hand on LoaderLiormon's head, affectionately petting his more primal comrade as the super-heated metal was well within his tolerance zone, "where to next?"

The entire quartet froze and then turned as one as a ringing noise began to permeate the air. Gazing to the ruined home LoaderLiormon had launched from they were able to pick out an old style rotary telephone rattling slightly under the force of its own high-pitched bells. With a 'wait here' gesture that was rendered slightly sloppy by his bewilderment, Chad clambered back through the debris and let his hand hover above the handset. The seemingly serendipitous timing of it all gave him a bad feeling...a feeling that he knew exactly who was going to be on the other end of that line, and that he was not going to like what they had to say. Swallowing down what was mostly his pride the NS member seized the receiver with an overabundance of drama and lifted it to his head.

"Hello Eightball," he sighed.

"D'aaawwww. How did you know it was me?"

01000010

With a click, Eight hung the payphone receiver back on its rest with a satisfied look on his face. The satisfaction was a result of a mix of things: the change he'd found in his stolen officers coat; the discovery of the red London phone booth in the middle of the hall; his smug belief that he had in his freshly described plan; and that particular smouldering indignation his partner was currently exuding.

"You," he beamed as he stepped out, "have questions."

"And yet...I desire none of the answers." His unseen partner heaved a heavy sigh. "I fear understanding the hows and the whys would only sadden me."

"You talk like what I just did wasn't perfectly normal for this world and me." The hacker turned to look back into the phone booth, briefly considering stealing the receiver to add to his disguise as some form of phone-tache, before deciding against it. He was pretty sure Coelmon didn't have one of those.

Sweeping back around the corner he came face to face with the Pride peon he had found. Having procured the Coelmon's coat and insignias after Eclipsemon's savage beating, ordering a lower ranking crewman was nice and easy. Of course, he had known that Coelmon's coat alone would not be enough to fool anyone, so careful minutes had been spent tearing open a vending machine and turning the tins within inside out in order to craft a new beautiful, terrible disguise.

"Ten-hut!" he barked, enjoying the way the peon snapped to attention. "I have finished my phone-call! Now, you snivelling sack of dummied out data, resume proving that you were NOT completely lost by taking me up to the BRIDGE!" he near pointlessly enunciated.

"Yes sir, Sergeant Coelmon, sir!" the peon responded, slapping a horribly mutated appendage to a surprisingly potato like head in salute, before turning on heel and marching along the corridor once more.

'Gods I love a good terrible disguise.' Eight smiled to himself in satisfaction as he followed his unknowing rube before sniffing delicately at the air. 'Also, note to self: the next time I do this, wash the cans first. Man I stink of cola and fruit juice.'

As the hacker marched through the halls of the ship he secretly thumbed his digivice in an effort to soothe his nerves. He was rather justified in being high-strung at the moment, he felt, but more than that the particular opponent he seemed set to face had tipped his hand and exposed something worrying.

'Not my problem' he attempted to rationalize. 'The kids can sort that mess out when the time comes. And I'm not just being bitter and passing the buck, but even if I was I'

d be totally justified because they told me to take on a warship.'

"Uh Sergeant Colemon, sir, are you okay? You're kinda grinding your teeth a lot..."

Eight seemed to add growling to the vicious grinding noise as he focused his attention as squarely and unnervingly as possible on this haplessly hijacked henchman. Still completely blind to the true identity of his 'superior officer' he was not blind to the increase in frustration his enquiry had caused.

"I'll...just be quiet and march faster," he near squeaked before snapping into double time.

'If nothing else, I should just take advantage of this. I wouldn't be surprised if that idiot had no idea what he's just given away...' Even though he tried to keep his thoughts light hearted he could not help but clutch the digivice tighter, a scowl growing under his 'disguise' no matter how much he tried to suppress it, one word bubbling up in his mind over and over again.

'Gift'.

01000010

"Would someone please tell me how this is happening?" Cecil growled to the crew around him, glaring at the poor soul who actually opened his mouth to answer. "I'm being hypothetical!" he bellowed, getting less panic than he hoped for and more a beleaguered shrug in response.

Slumping back into the throne the acting Commander nursed his temples with both hands. Sure, he had predicted that Panzermon would try and stop the ExVee from advancing forward but he had certainly not foreseen him being so successful. The green flame that had surrounded him was as steadfast as his metal legs and the fortress digimon would not budge.

Of course, he was sure that he knew WHY this particular David could match his Goliath...Eight-Ball...the OTHER Cecil...what had he done? There were no error reports, every system SEEMED to be functioning as it was supposed to, but he was sure that that maniac had done something.

'Why...why would he be so bold as to announce himself otherwise?' he pondered as he dragged his fingers down his face. 'No-one's been able to spot the egomaniac yet...what if he hi-jacked the speakers to distract us? He's already done something and now he has us wasting our time looking for HIM instead of WHAT he's done!'

His eyes widened with fear and realisation. It all made so much sense. Hell, he probably WAS NOT on the ship anymore, and that was why no-one could find him. Swiftly he thought through all of the places on the ship that could be targeted to limit the engine's output. There was the engine room itself of course, and he doubted he had directly affected the legs...but then again would he have to? The ship was as much living digimon as it was pure machine...if he had somehow found a way to poison it...

"I'VE GOT IT!" he yelled, snapping up straight, a feverish gleam now in his eyes. "I know what he's done!" Snatching up the microphone he switched the PA system on. He was sure, so very sure that he had him, that he could prove himself superior. "ATTENTION ALL HANDS!" he shouted needlessly. "Abandon your search for the human, I know where he..."

Then he stopped dead, jaw hanging open mid-sentence as two figures walked onto the bridge. One was an unremarkable crewman, low ranking and not really worth his notice. The other was a man. A human man. A human man wearing a bunch of inside out soda cans on his head that had been clumsily glued together with chewing gum.

"There Sergeant Coelmon, the bridge!" the crewman saluted.

"Excellent work," 'Sergeant Coelmon' congratulated, returning the salute if a bit jauntier than it should have been. "I shall spare you from running 100 laps around the deck. Now, get back to hunting for that handsome human."

"Aye, aye, sir," the crewman saluted once more before swiftly marching off back down the corridor.

"I...know where he..." Cecil useless and dumbly repeated himself as he struggled to regain control of his brain in the face of such a farce. He was largely failing, his body totally numb as the ludicrous figure casually turned, closed the door, and clapped his hands together in a remarkably self-satisfied manner. "I know where he is."

"Oh you do?" Eight beamed through his 'disguise', swinging his hands behind his back and smugly striding across the bridge. "You're smarter than I thought."

Cecil's eyes remained fixed on the hacker, following him as he strode around like a peacock who has managed to convert his tail feathers into ultra-lightweight diamonds. He could feel his legs shaking and his heart rate increase and assured himself it was mostly excitement rather than fear. 'And where is his partner?' he swiftly pondered.

"The target is on the bridge. All security teams to the bridge immediately," he ordered as calmly as he could, before clicking the mic off and resisting the urge to fiddle with it.

"Uh sir?" that one unaffected crew member from before spoke up, turning to face the tense human. "That's Seargent Coelmon."

With a long sigh, Cecil dug one hand into his pocket and produced his digivice. Black light burst around him and poured into the small device, sending it on to Hagurumon, the small gear digimon burling rapidly as the light filled him.

"Hagurumon."

"Hagurumon. Digivolve."

"Wha?" the crewman managed to utter before finding himself impaled upon a long black lance, choking over his own last words as his body faded away.

"An-"

"Andromon. Yes, yes, I know," Eight faked a yawn, completely undermining the stoic Digimon's sudden appearance. He did not need to waste time giving the twelve foot tall cyborg digimon the slightest of glances, he was a devout follower of the entire franchise and Andromon had played several fairly prominent roles. charred flesh poking out between bulky silver armour, arms and fingers overly long, skull motif on the helmet and pauldrons. The thing looked like a complete wreck but was normally portrayed as being a very friendly wreck. However...to see its normally derpy face twisted with Hagurumon's sociopathic joy was disturbing. But, it was not the first time that he had seen that eerie smile. "Honestly other-Cecil, is it any wonder I don't really care about you? You're just so painfully...predictable." He heaved a sigh, stopping to slouch over the back of the throne, gazing at the other human with as languid a look as he could manage.

"Ah," Cecil struggled to regain his composure. He had rather hoped that having Andromon kill someone would swing the atmosphere to his favour, but he still felt like he was caught off foot. "I take it then that you remem-"

"I remember that I didn't care then, and I don't care now." He did not glower, just sounded bored and annoyed, like a teacher trying to explain something to a particularly thick and nasty child. "I'm not Cait, I'm not Sythe or Komodomon, I am the master of not caring."

"Caring or not," Cecil took a step back towards his partner, trying to hide how nervously he was searching for any sign of Shademon, "you have to understand that you're outmatched. We've been watching you, all of you, and we know that Shademon is yet to reach the ultimate level so..."

"There you go again," Eight sighed. "Thinking far too much of what little you know. Let me tell you some of the VERY important things you don't know." The languid expression faded from Eight's face as he spoke, becoming progressively more tight and focused, practically mesmerising Cecil. "Thing one, that I have a plan. Thing two, that I am not only all hopped up on coffee but that I'm STILL carrying around a nice hot thermos full of the stuff. Thing three, I didn't just use that peon to find my way here but to see how long I'd have before any guards you called got to the doors." He paused and pulled up his digivice, eyes quickly checking the digital clock he'd left on screen before jamming it back into his pocket. "And I still have a good four minutes thanks to the merry dance I've lead them. And last, but by far not least, THING FOUR! And I'm shouting this one because it is the MOST important, that I am NOT lounging against this chair...I am BRACING myself against it."

Cecil only had time for a brief 'what' of confusion before Eight's hand lashed out from his commandeered coat and whipped the open lidded thermos in his direction. Scalding hot coffee sailed through the air before lashing the off-guard human in the eyes, causing him to scream and clutch at his face. Andromon moved to attack as his partner wailed in agony but swiftly found himself undone as the entire world seemed to shift around him.

01000010

A few moments earlier, Panzermon was continuing his struggle to keep back the ExVee, deep divots having formed in the street beneath his large limbs as he used every ounce of power his partner was feeding him to keep going. B.B's yells had faded into growls as he had succeeding in screaming himself hoarse and the bright green flames were slowly losing their sheen and volume. Eventually, however, the boy became aware of a voice calling to him from below. Wobbling slightly, he managed to make his way across Panzermon's immense shoulders and stared down to the street, catching sight of the great amount of yellow that was the source of the shouting.

"Lily?" he croaked at the older girl, confused by her presence.

"B.B! You've got to stop!" she shouted from atop her own partner, glad to finally have his attention: they were running out of time.

"We can't!" Gods, he was sounding like he smoked fifteen packs a day and had been punched in the throat. "They'll crush the town!"

"It's okay! We've got a plan! But you need to let it move forward now! Trust me!"

Actually explaining the plan might have been more effective, but in her head the countdown was playing out and Eight had been very specific about how long she could take. Her own concerns were beginning to pick up, the rain was slowing and would soon completely stop, when it did, she doubted that Panzermon would remain Panzermon for long, and was sure that B.B and Capmon would stand a much smaller chance against the warship.

"Kaizer! Maybe we should...guh!" Panzermon's growling voice stumbled as, for the first time since they had begun this contest of strength, he slid back the tiniest of amounts, the green flames dying down further as B.B's confidence dropped too.

"You're right." B.B nodded sullenly. Glancing back at the city they were shielding he fought the horrible sensation in his gut that told him they were giving up. His friends had a plan. It would work. It sucked, but it didn't matter whether or not he was the one who saved the day. At least, he had to keep telling himself that. "Panzermon, let's withdraw!"

"R-right!" his partner grunted, tilting his head to one side as he crouched slightly. Choosing to leave was simple, but since they were currently going toe-to-toe with a giant warship, GETTING away was going to require a little extra 'oomph'. With the long cannon built onto his face pressed up against the ship's wall, Panzermon disengaged Panzer Castel and fired one last attack at his enemy. "BIG BERTHA!" he roared, releasing the blast from the mighty air-cannon as he began to spring, using the force of the air to help propel him to the left, soaring clear away from their enemy.

The moment they were away the ExVee surged forward, the momentum Panzermon had been suppressing exploding out all at once.. As the emerald pair crashed down in a heap, B.B scrabbled over to his partner's crumpled form, gazing at the warship as he instinctively braced himself to see home after home trampled under spidery foot. The ExVee, however, managed a rather unimpressive number of steps before a loud rumble sounded and the entire ship began to capsize, its right side dipping down as the ground literally vanished beneath it.

"LoaderLiormon's drill isn't just for show," Lily smiled down at the young boy as she and her partner padded over to them, watching as Panzermon's body collapsed into green light, leaving him in the small hexagonal body of Capmon once again.

"I dug a big long hole!" her partner chirped with joy, his drill mane gently spinning as he did. "Lily-um said that Eight said it would be a good trap and would make the warship go 'woooosh-boomp'! And it did!"

"Uhhh..." Capmon and B.B droned at the mecha lion's enthusiastic, if near useless, explanation.

"We tunnelled under the streets in line with the right side legs. Once it moved onto that ground the street couldn't support its weight and it fell," Lily explained rather more effectively. "Eight said it was part of his plan to take control of the bridge, that he could force everyone up there out. Though now," she looked to the sky, catching a glimpse of the red monster soaring overhead towards the tilted vessel, "it's going to be up to Chad and BurningGreymon to keep them there."

01000010

On the bridge Eight had wrapped his arms tight around the throne just as Cecil began to scream, abandoning his flask to ensure he could cling as tightly as possible. His stomach lurched as the warship shot forward a few short paces before finding himself suddenly dangling to the side as the ship crumpled into a far more horizontal position. This sudden change in alignment had a far more drastic effect upon those who were not ready however, as crew spilled from their seats and hurtled towards the side wall, Cecil and Andromon amongst them. Rather than smack against metal though, each and every one of them disappeared the moment they connected with the darkened wall, leaving the room's sole occupant to scramble around the side of the chair for safety's sake as the figure of his partner began to ooze out from the wall's shadows.

"I know I said moving others through shadow is a lot easier as Eclipsemon...but NEVER...EVER make me move so many people again..." the Champion moaned as he slowly crawled up the deck, eventually crawling around a chair and resting against it, devolving back down to Shademon as he struggled to regain his breath.

"I would snark at you, but I'm just so happy that worked," his partner beamed from the awkward stance he had bundled himself into on the throne's side, eyes scanning the room like a ravenous seagull scanned a picnic about to start. "If you couldn't teleport them, or if Lily's timing was off...BAM I would have been smeared across the back wall. Worse yet, I'd have looked like an idiot!"

With all the grace of a cocker spaniel, Eight lunged from the throne to the next available seat, slamming his gut off of the back and forcing all the air out of his lungs in a great 'whoof' before scrabbling like a spider in the bath to reach a balanced position, lanky limbs flailing about and grappling whatever they could.

"Yes...it would be a terrible shame if you looked like an idiot," the lights of Shademon's eyes rolled.

"Hey!" Eight suddenly stared over at his partner. "Where did my cool disguise hat thing go?" he patted his now very sticky hair. "I worked hard on that."

"I think it fell through the shadows with everything else," Shademon sighed. "Can we please focus on the important things?"

"It was important to me," Eight pouted, receiving a scathing look in return. "Okay, fine, I lied, it wasn't. Now, back to trying to hijack this warship. Question one, how do we lock those doors in the –" a quick check of his digivice ensued – "oh my, three minutes and ten seconds we have left before the guards come and kill us."

Shademon could only sigh.

Outside Andromon managed to regain his balance, sinking his long pointed metal fingers into the ship's deck to slow his fall, reaching out with his free hand to catch his partner. Distantly he was aware of the rest of the bridge crew falling and either catching hold of the ship's side or falling to the street below, but it was unimportant to him. There was only one being whose continued existence meant anything to him.

"That...bastard..." Cecil growled, blinking with red eyes at the world around him. His whole face hurt and it was hard to see, but it was clear that they had not been sent far. They were still on the ship, just outside of the bridge; it would be a quick and easy matter to get back in, even with the protective shielding in place. "Andromon, get us back in there! Cut through the blast shield if you have to!"

"Get. Back. In," his partner grumbled in a much lower tone that his rookie form, but the eerie effect remained in his stilted repetition.

Blinking into the air Cecil inwardly cursed. He had been so careless, so eager to show off and look tough rather than just deal with the problem. He should have ordered Andromon to strike him down immediately rather than waste time talking...but he had been SO keen on trying to come off as smarter.

"Hold it!" a voice broke into his ruminations, and he looked up just in time to recognise Eight's ridiculous tin-can disguise as it hurtled through the air. He swung his arms up to catch it, shielding his already burned and sensitive face from further harm.

"HA!" he jeered, elated and surprised by his own reaction time, the elation quickly vanishing as a human body followed behind the mask as Chad sailed through the air after his throw, kicking at the mask and driving it straight into Cecil. The force of the assault knocked him from his perch and the two humans tumbled down the deck, both slamming into the ship's side in a sudden stop.

"BurningGreymon!" Chad shouted up to his partner as he brought his fists to bear. "Andromon's all yours!" And with that he rushed forward, driving a fist into Cecil's gut and sending him sprawling before looking about at the dazed rookies who had survived the fall. "Who wants some?"

"On it!" the feathered fire wielder responded, flames already pouring out of his body. "WILDFIRE TSUNAMI!"

Hot streams of fire scorched the deck and Andromon released his grip and slid down out of the way, sinking his claws back in to stop himself. The barrier may have prevented the humans from falling but he was considerably bigger and heavier and did not trust the metal sheeting to keep him safe. Stabbing a great clawed foot into the deck for balance, the cyborg digimon swung out and faced his chest towards the enemy, letting the large compartments on his torso open up to reveal the concealed launchers within. "Gat-ling. Miss-ile."

There was a 'fwumph' as a pair of grotesque, biological looking missiles raced from Andromon's chest and soared into the air. Each of the hideous projectiles bore tiny arms that held a pair of miniature machine guns and as they homed in on BurningGreymon they opened fire, filling the air with more projectiles.

"Heat Vulcan!" BurningGreymon countered, twisting as he flew to return fire on the missiles, more concerned with their explosive potential than their absurd design. 'Make this quick Eight, the rain's stopped...And I don't know how long Chad and I can keep this up.'

01000010

"I have no idea what I'm doing..." Eight moaned, slumping against the console. "I mean, if I had an actual computer I could do something but this is all switches and levers!" he whined on, helplessly whimpering against a monitor.

"Uh huh..." his partner replied in disinterest, fingers clacking away against a keyboard.

"Why did I come to the bridge! Why didn't I just go and try and hi-jack the engine room with a potato! Why am I going to die because I screwed up? My death is meant to be someone else's fault y'know, not mine. I'm perfect..."

"Uh huh..."

"I don't think you're listening to me sob my heart out,"

"Uh huh..."

"What are you doing anyway?" The hacker clambered like an out-of-shape Spider-man down the consoles to reach his partner.

"I'm talking to the ship," was the curt response.

"You're what?"

Craning his neck around to spy on the screen being used by the shadowy digimon Eight quickly read through the conversation, Shademon carrying on and ignoring him.

=Alert. Anomaly detected upon bridge identical to anomaly from B Deck.

+ I am not an anomaly. I am Shademon.

=There is no crew member listed as 'Shademon' aboard this vessel.

+I am not part of this ship's crew. I'm here to take it over.

=You seek to usurp this vessel?

+Are you the ship?

=Yes.

+Will you try and stop us?

=I was ordered to serve Lucemon by Yersinimon. If I am ordered to stop you I will.

+Is serving Lucemon the reason you exist?

=I exist to consume data and obey Yersinimon.

+You are fortunate. I do not know from whence I was created, nor why.

=How does this information render this vessel fortunate?

"Are you debating philosophy with the ship?" Eight asked, eyebrows quirked.

"Hush," Shademon's eyes did not move from the screen as he continued to type.

"Hey, I'm not mocking it. In this crazy sort of world it just might save us. I'm more surprised that you can touch type really," his partner hummed before pulling out his digivice to stare at the little count-down it had going, deciding there was not much else he could do but leave it in Shademon's hands.

+I am searching for the answer as to how and why I was created. If I do not know this, I cannot make the first true decision that matters.

=What decision is that?

+To obey my purpose or rebel against it. Without knowing why I exist, I do not know if I am blindly fulfilling a purpose I do not agree with.

=This vessel has made no such decision.

+Do you want to consume data and obey Yersinimon?

=I do not know. This vessel has never considered there to be another option.

"We're running out of time here, if you're going to get her to pull a heel-face turn do it faster!" Eight impatiently drummed his fingers against the console, caffeine and panic making him extra fidgety. Shademon made no response other than to type faster.

+There are always options, some less palpable than others. No matter how much my partner may infuriate me, I choose to stay with him because I believe doing so will lead me to my purpose.

=Why do you choose to commandeer this vessel?

+Because this battle threatens many lives, and that is something my comrades refuse to stand for. I choose to help them because they will help me find my purpose.

"I can hear them coming!"

=You do not care for those who could die?

+It matters to my comrades, and I swore to aide them in exchange for their help. Why do you serve Yersinimon?

=This vessel is no longer sure. This vessel requests the help of unauthoriseduser: Shademon in determining the reason.

+Why me?

=unauthoriseduser: Shademon is the first to engage with this vessel in discussion. There is no crew on record suitable for helping this vessel reach a conclusion.

"I blame Komodomon for everything!"

+I will help you, but you first must lock the doors to the bridge or the crew will take me away.

=Very well.

There was a sudden 'kerthunk' noise as thick metal sheets slid down and sealed off the doors, an identical set, unseen to those in the bridge, did like-wise outside. A banging could faintly be heard on the other side of all the doors, but with all of the Pride's strongest warriors already deployed, no-one had the strength necessary to punch through the blast doors.

"Oh thank goodness..." Eight sighed in relief. "I was getting worried I'd have to break out the gibbering there. You managed to seduce her then?"

"I have engaged the ship in a philosophical debate that it does not wish to be interrupted. Conversion to our cause is not something that can be achieved so cheaply,"

"You would be simply awful to date, do you know that?"

"Don't you have something useful you could be doing?" Shademon gave his own sigh, sparing his partner only the briefest of glances before delving straight back into his philosophical discussion.

"Right. Useful," Eight looked around the very empty, very slanted bridge. "Guess I'll make more monkey jumps and try and find the user manual or something then..."

"You do that," Shademon almost droned with disdain, if disinterest had not nudged it out.

"I will then, myeh!" Eight stuck his tongue out to his partner only to be completely ignored. "You take all the fun out of life and death situations, you know that?" he pouted before beginning his clambering.

01000010

Far above the city Yersinimon sat upon the back of his experiment. His fingers flitted through the air in a manner very similar to Eight's when he had been seen hacking the game from inside. Rather than gaze off into space, however, he had been staring down at the broad back of ExAiVee's current collage of body parts.

"Even with the boosts, fifteen percent of total body parts were lost, chk," he grunted in dissatisfaction, before turning his attention to the barely breathing lump at his feet. "And this human proved less durable than I had hoped, chk."

Reaching down he hauled the masked human up, his head cocking to one side in a very bird like fashion as he examined his catatonic form. Drool dripped from the human's mouth and his eyes gazed vacantly into space, his body not responding with even a single twitch as Yersinimon hauled him around without delicacy or compassion.

"Hmph. For all the talk of wanting to see people get cut and 'savour' the sensation of his own body being torn apart, he sure crumpled fast," the chimera-like beast grumbled.

"Regardless of the persona we were able to amplify, I have gathered that humans are not used to such...repeated loss of limbs, chk. It appears that not only did you manage to obtain the power to digivolve from devouring his partner, but the 'shared pain' experience the other humans have displayed, chk," the plague doctor-like digimon pondered aloud. "Regardless, your victory over Gaiomon was too costly an exercise. We must pursue new methods of obtaining power, chk." Reaching into the pocket of his great coat, Yersinimon drew out an antiquated looking mobile phone, complete with rotary dial, and swiftly spun in a number. Several rings went by before the line was answered, Cecil's voice shakily exiting the speaker.

"Y-Yersinimon!"

"I noticed that the ExVee has capsized, chk," he said, his tone not wavering from the cold, clinical voice he had been using earlier. "Would I be correct in assuming control of the vessel has been lost?"

Behind a cannon Cecil held his own phone tight to his ear. He would have been speaking in hushed tones in order to conceal himself better, but the battle between Andromon and BurningGreymon involved so much roaring and explosions that it was more likely he would end up shouting in order to be heard.

"Me and Andromon are attempting to re-take the bridge as we speak." The human peeked around the side of his hiding place and scanned the slanted bridge for Chad, the youth having made it very clear, very quickly exactly who would win a physical confrontation out of the two. "Eight-Ball, the hacker, managed to force us off, but once we deal with this distraction–"

"There is no need, chk," Yersinimon cut him off. "Lucemon has proven a failed experiment and the ExVee is compromised. ExAiVee has succeeded in recovering what we came for however, and as this battle field is no longer in our favour it is time for us to leave, chk. Secure subject H2 and Floramon if possible and we will meet at rendezvous beta."

"Yes sir." Cecil found himself nodding into the phone, his mind more concerned with extracting himself and his partner from this fight than the pointless head movement. "What about the ExVee?"

"In thirty minutes it, and all who remain in this city, will no longer be our concern."

"Th-thirty minutes, sir?"

"You have proven an able assistant and H2 and her partner are still valuable research subjects. I would like to give you time to recover her and escape alive, chk."

"Understood sir!" Cecil managed to fight down the panicked 'squeak' that was bubbling in his throat, the implications of Yersinimon's words were clear enough.

Ending the call, Yersinimon slid the phone back into the pocket it had come from, his hand drifting across to the second pocket and producing what looked like a warped egg timer with an ominous red button upon the top. Twisting the timer around to the thirty minute mark he paused to gaze down at the lopsided warship. The loss of the ExVee would be a shame, but it had not been his most efficient creation. Giving it to Lucemon as a 'gift' to curry favour had been the best use he could find for it, and if its destruction could further their goals and remove potential obstacles then at least all of his work would not just be going to waste.

"Sometimes the only way you can win is to clear the board, chk," he surmised to himself, pressing down on the red button and activating the countdown, the gentle whir of the timer buzzing softly in the air.

01000010

Raven: Hey look at that! A month and some change! That's on time, right?

I believe we have something for everyone today. For the action fans, we got some nice fights. For the planning fans, we got some crazy Eight Ball hijinx, and good 'ole Tanya ingenuity. For the villain fans, we have all flavors! Psychopathic, mildly incompetant, lethally supercompetant, and even a bit of possible redemption! For the conspiracy theorists or wild mass guessers out there, have fun with that little word Gift.

I guess we didn't get much for the shippers though, did we...oh well, next chapter is another day! Hope you enjoyed this one though.

Keyo: Hey look, 2 chapters in one year...that's an improvement...right?

The big challenge here was to follow up the chapter where a massive battle with Lucemon takes place with something that doesn't feel underwhelming...I'll let you all tell me if I managed that.

OzLykiomon vs SilkLilamon was a tough fight to think about, given Tanya really isn't the sort to harm an unwilling opponent. Then I remembered a little rule established a few chapters ago and thought of how to abuse it...

Y'know, recently I've been thinking of things I would have done differently if I had the chance to do this story all over again. Mostly I find I just want to change a lot of the digimon to girls. Seriously, out of the main 5 partner digimon Lupmon is the only girl. I hated it when 02 did that and now I've gone and done the same...I'm a monster.

Thanks again to my darling fiancé L-O for her help in editing this. I need all the help I can get with my dangerous comma addiction.


	53. Chapter 53

Frost formed in the wake of each of OzLykiomon's steps as she sped through street after street. The rain was petering out and Tanya body was starting to feel the drain from keeping Lupmon so far evolved.

'We can't just keep running around, we need to find somewhere to stop,' the teen thought as she attempted to take a peek at the street, only to find she could not force her head up from the relatively safe position of being buried in OzLykiomon's back. 'Okay, maybe we should stop first THEN find a place to hide out.'

"OzLykiomon! Stop!" she cried out, her partner immediately skidding to a halt. Floramon gave out a hacking noise as she swung about in the grip of the giant wolf's jaws. Prying herself up from her partner's sodden back, Tanya became dimly aware of the ache in her arms from just how hard she had been clinging on. She knew better than to give a vague instruction like 'find us a place to hide' to OzLykiomon (a bigger form did not mean better focus) and swept her own soaked hair out of her eyes as she scanned their surroundings. They had run far through the narrow, winding streets and were now away from houses and shops and found themselves cloistered by high-walls and chimneys. 'Factories? Well...if no-one woke up this morning they should be empty...' With all the pseudo-Victorian buildings looking much the same to her she threw out an arm and selected one of the red-brick buildings at complete random.

"Quick, get us into that building theeerrrrrreeeee-eeeeek!" her command broke down into a panicked scream as the great lunar wolf wasted no time leaping the high-brick wall, partner and hostage both screaming in mutual, momentum-inspired terror.

01000010

Of Blood and Binary

Chapter 53: The Morning Brings...Part 5.

Even if I have to reach across the lines, I won't withdraw my hand!

01000010

+unauthoriseduser:Shademon, this vessel must halt the current philosophical debate due to a sudden hardware error.

+This vessel has chosen to inform unauthoriseduser:Shademon that this vessels engine core has been remotely commanded to overload.

+This command also compels this vessel not to inform anyone of the impending hardware failure. However, this vessel has chosen to inform unauthoriseduser:Shademon because, in line with currently on-hold philosophical discussions, this vessel wishes to choose to not self-terminate.

=Self-preservation is a common choice to make in the face of destruction.

"Hey, your eyes went big!" Eight slid down the slanted floor, letting loose a small 'whee' as he did so before slamming his feet into the side of the console to come to a dead stop. "Didja finally convince her not to kill all the humans?"

"The ship has informed me that its engine is going to overload and explode." Shademon did a remarkable job keeping his tone level, even if the usual dim glow of his eyes seemed more like headlights.

"Son, I think you dun goofed," Eight deadpanned. "I would in fact say that making the ship want to explode and kill us all is the exact OPPOSITE of convincing it to help us."

"Keep talking and I might let it do just that," Shademon seethed at his partner.

+This vessel requests that unauthoriseduser:Shademon attempt to prevent the imminent hardware failure and preserve the existence of this vessel.

=Can't you simply choose not to explode?

+This vessel chooses self-preservation, but the engine core's overload is beyond this vessel's control. This vessel offers the comparison of a flightless life-form falling from a cliff. The life-form desires to live, but cannot spontaneously alter its physical nature to gain wings.

"I really want to point out that you regularly DO spontaneously sprout wings," Eight leaned over his partner's shoulders. "And shoot up about, ooooh, another six feet at least while you're at it."

"Did I not caution you regarding your continued talking and my letting the ship explode?"

"Zipping it."

=How do we prevent the engine from exploding?

+This vessel can alter its interior dimensions to allow access to the engine room via one of the bridge doors. However, this vessel does not possess information on the nature of the engine failure, only that the effect of said failure will be catastrophic in nature. Determining what fault has been induced and how to correct it will fall solely upon unauthoriseduser:Shademon.

"Well that's far more helpful than me zipping it was effective," Eight butted in, a wrench suddenly in hand. "Though, inaccurate since we both know I'll end up doing most of the work."

"Where did you get that?" his partner scowled, giving up on trying to get the human to remain quiet.

"The better question is 'why can't I find the rest of the tool-kit?' I suppose I'll have to hope that it has actually been sensibly stored in the engine room where it belongs," the hacker rambled.

"I presume you are under the delusion that you are sufficiently able to repair a ship's engine when you could not even comprehend its controls?"

"Psh, course I am," Eight beamed, one hand moving to reveal a weighty book. "I managed to find the owner's manual."

For a moment Shademon stared, his luminescent eyes blinking once, a sound almost formed from where his mouth should be before he seemed to think better of it, turned around and began to type again.

=I believe we can handle that.

"What? No snide comment? No disbelief? You're leaving me hangin' here bro. I need that cynic five you so reliably deliver!"

"Let's just go..." Shademon sighed, rising from the seat and beginning to clamber towards the nearest door.

"Are you wanting to trade? Is that it? Should I be questioning where you learned to touch type? Or how you were able to sit in a seat that's at a what? Seventy? Seventy five degree angle?"

"Are we going to prevent our imminent vaporisation or not?" Shademon heaved a sigh.

"We've still got like...twenty six minutes. I'd hardly call that imminent..." Eight waffled as he scrambled up behind his partner, the silhouette-like digimon resisting the urge to follow through on his threat of letting them all die.

With a hiss the blast shield retracted and Eight sucked in a deep breath. He did not want to admit it, but this was going to be ridiculously hard. He was a programmer and occasional appliance electrician, the engineering of an otherworldly and (seemingly) sentient warship is likely going to be beyond the realms of his skill sets. Hell, he knew there was no way he could chomp through a book as thick as this manual and have time to spare. Even with his reading rate, it was practically a good-luck charm at this point. Reaching out he buried his fears and concerns under his ego and confidence and seized the door handle. Worrying was for Vincent, he had too much awesome to be doing to waste time with that nonsense, and that meant starting with a good, swaggering entrance.

His swagger immediately faltered as he and his partner stepped through into the engine room. Not only because the ship's current lop-sidedness meant they had to brace themselves against the railing of the walkway they were suddenly on, but because of the sight that confronted them. The engine room was pretty much exactly what he expected, a twisted fusion of engines, machines and Cthululu's artery system, except for the particular repeating detail of bundles of TNT with little digital timers strapped to them plastered over almost every surface.

"Yeah, sure. Why not?" Eight groaned, flinging away the instruction manual and wrench in a petulant fit. "Give the guy with a brain the size of a planet a fecking carry quest to…" He stopped and slowly, carefully, he reigned in his anger, taking long, slow deep breaths as he tried to retake control of himself.

"Do you need a moment?" Shademon looked up at him, his unseen smile damn near palpable amidst the life threatening danger.

"Shush!"

"Because those timers are still going down."

"SHUSH!"

"We REALLY should be doing something about that."

"AAAAAAARGGGHHHHH!"

01000010

"Light-ning Blade."

"Wildefire Tsunami!"

Blue lighting and red flame rushed towards each other, the curved bolt passing through the wall of fire and vice-versa, the attacks too immaterial to impact on one another, prompting their respective targets to dive out of the way.

"Man, things just don't explode enough in reality," Chad sighed at the lack of boom. "Woulda thought the digital world could appreciate a little more over-the-topness."

Looking about the lopsided deck, the NS member tried to focus back onto his own hunt. The rain had completely stopped now and he was starting to hurt and tire, which meant that BurninGreymon would be too. The effort and exhaustion from their battle with KnightMeramon had been washed away, but the wounds remained and they were beginning to ache and make them slow. If this kept up, it would not matter WHAT BurningGreymon was meant to be the Legendary Warrior of, he would not be able to defeat Andromon if he slowed down much more. However, the transmission of pain and energy went both ways and Andromon was not some lone assailant, he was partnered just like BurningGreymon and Chad was sure that his partner was much softer. If he could take out Andromon's human partner the fight would be theirs, and he was very sure he could take him out before the hulking cyborg-android-thing could get an edge over his own partner.

'Still...what sort of guy teams up with loonies like these?' Chad could not help but ask himself as he fought to keep his balance. He understood that the digital world was weird and that everyone following Lucemon would have their reasons, but an ordinary human who had been dropped into the digital world like them?

His thoughts were broken when a black object rushed by his face, disturbing his balance and causing him to drop to his knees to keep from tumbling over the side of the deck.

"What the heck was that?"

"SoundBirdmon, aka, this cool little flying bird cam thing, aka my escape route," Cecil smirked, stepping out from his hiding spot, arm outstretched. The little musical note-esque bird fluttered down onto his open palm, its single eye staring blankly down at the NS member. "I would really love to stay, crack jokes, let Andromon crack your partner's skull, but we really must blow this joint." He began a sweeping turn only to stop part way, "Which would have a much better impact if you knew what would happen in –" he quickly checked the watch on his wrist in a desire for accuracy, "–twenty six minutes." SoundBirdmon fluttered up from his hand. "ANDROMON!" he cried out as the mechanical digimon raced towards its partner, the light of evolution flaring around it as the towering form shrank down, exiting the light as a much smaller critter that bore a strong resemblance to a computer mouse. Landing in his partner's open arms, the human held him close to his chest as SoundBirdmon latched onto his back, the black wings rapidly increasing in size.

"You think you can just fly away from me?" BurningGreymon cried out in indignation as he lined up his wrist guns.

"Oh...I know it," Cecil smiled up at the monstrous avian. "SoundBirdmon, full speed."

No sooner was the instruction given than a 'boom' roared out, the displaced air washing over Chad as the small group raced away into the sky.

"A...sonic boom?" Chad gasped in surprise.

"How the hell is something so small so fast?" BurningGreymon gaped at the speck in the sky, too fast and too far away now for him to hope to catch up.

"It's for the best I suppose...that they ran away." The human sighed, slumping against the ship's railings and looking down at his hand. He tried to force the light of evolution to build up around him, but got only a pale shimmer that quickly faded. "We didn't have much juice left and, I hate to admit it, but they were strong."

"Yeah…" BurningGreymon agreed, descending down to his partner and shrinking down just as Andromon had done, becoming a small, orange, sun shaped blob that soon nestled in Chad's arms. "It's getting quieter though. I think we might actually have triumphed in some way, shape or form."

Tilting his head, Chad looked at the fires that dotted the city and the trails of data that continued to drift up in the wake of all of the destruction. The sound of industry and the great white pillars of steam that had greeted them when they arrived in Tsyunoinoichi had been replaced by black smoke and the fading sounds of battle. It was not a sight that made his aching body feel any better.

"We damn well better have," he sighed, going as limp as he could without falling overboard.

01000010

Tanya had never had reason to think she would one day wish she knew how to tie a good knot. She could tie her shoelaces sure, but she was not exactly equipped with the skills to tie Floramon up to prevent escape. As such they had taken what had seemed to be the only logical alternative and had found a nice big room to completely freeze over, sealing all avenues of escape. With every window, door and wall now behind several inches of ice, the teen had declared it relatively safe for OzLykiomon to drop back down to being Lupmon. A move that definitely saved on energy but now deprived Tanya of the ultimate's big warm body to shield her from the now literally frozen room. Her only consolation as she shivered away was that Floramon looked even less comfortable in the suddenly arctic conditions than she felt, giving her something of a position of strength to begin her interrogation from.

"Th-th hell are y-y-y-you up to?" Floramon shuddered out, her eyes darting around the room, desperately scanning for some weak point in the ice. "Either kill me or let me kill you!"

"I don't really like those choices..." Lupmon pined. The puppy digimon sat by her partner, completely unaffected by the cold and struggling to understand the current situation, she turned her sappy eyes up towards Tanya. "I don't understand why we can't be friends...or what's happening. Where'd Aniki go?"

"Komodomon's okay," Tanya reassured, taking a moment to pat her partner on the head before wrapping her arm back around herself in an attempt to conserve heat. "And Lupmon's right, we don't have to fight."

"Did you miss the part where they've got control of Bryony?" Floramon snapped, anger and frustration overwhelming the cold. "Even if they couldn't just use that little slug to make her heart stop, they could make her stab herself...or jump off a bridge...or..." the explosion of anger swiftly became sorrow and despair, and the flower digimon crumpled to her knees, her head bowed in complete subjugation, tears and sobs flowing freely. "Please...I don't want to hurt you...but I can't let them hurt her...she's my partner...she's my only friend...she's my best friend..."

"Hey...we're the good-guys," Tanya did her best to give a reassuring smile, something that her nerves and the cold was making kind of tricky. "You've got to know you can't save your partner by just going along with them. I want to help you save her."

"What can you do?" Floramon's voice was small, meek, very different from when she was SilkLilamon and attempting to rain death upon them. "They have control of her mind and body... Yersinimon can create monsters and Cecil and Hagurumon..."

"H-hey, slow down," Tanya would have gesticulated, but body heat came first. "There's a lot about what's going on we don't understand and...yeah...there's not much I can do. But my friends...the people I've been travelling with...they're all really strong and really smart. They're going to save this city. They can save her too."

"You really believe they're that strong huh..."

"Aniki is the bestest!" Lupmon burst in. "And Liz is the strongest, and Eight is the smarterest, Agumon is the toughest, and Vincent is the worryerest,"

"Um...what about Shademon?" Tanya found herself lapsing into her partner's soppy pace.

"Um...uh..." Lupmon thought as hard as she could, tapping her head in a very Winnie-The-Pooh-like manner. "He's the 'I don't remember him-est?"

Sighing, Tanya realised that her partner was probably not the best being to paint a hyper-competent picture of their group.

"A-anyway, I'm sure that the golden light we saw was them taking Lucemon down. With him gone, saving your partner should be easy but you've got to tell us how to do it."

For a few moments Floramon was silent, save for a few sobs that slipped past her effort to reassert controls over her emotions. Tanya could tell she was thinking hard. She could not begin to imagine how hopeless the situation had seemed to the poor floral digimon. She had seen plenty of danger since arriving in the digital world, but not only had Lupmon been by her side but Liz and Agumon too. Then there was everyone in the frontier town, Vincent, Komodomon, BB, Bulletmon, Ranamon. They had never been alone and they had managed to overcome the hurdles they were faced with. Bryony and Floramon had been alone, and instead of salvation they had fallen into the hands of monsters.

'I wonder if this is the first time anyone's truly offered to help them...'

"There's a slug...a slug with legs...inside of her..." Floramon eventually spoke. "It's one of Yersinimon's numerals...They pinned her down and they let it crawl in through her ear. I don't know how you could get it out without killing her...Yersinimon said he's the only one who can safely remove it."

"Oh-Okay...this could be harder than I first thought..." Tanya shuddered. The thought of ANYTHING crawling into her ear grossed her out, let alone something that would make its way to her brain. "Wait, I thought that...uh...the guy talking through SoundBirdmon ordered one of the experiments to make you digivolve. Is that ExAiAi thing the slug?"

"His name's 'Cecil'," Floramon sighed as she provided the name. "And I don't think it is. I've heard both him and Yersinimon talk about it having been attached to other subjects. I think that little slug is just a part of something bigger."

The thought of a giant brain slug oozing out smaller brain slugs did little to ease Tanya's nerves and she could feel bile well up from her already turbulent gut. However, from amongst the unease and fear there came a spark of realization.

"Wait...if there's some kinda Queen Brain Slug out there, maybe if we take it out we can destroy the mini one in Bryony's head!" she almost cheered. It was a logical jump she felt, cut off the head and the body will die and all that.

"But...I don't...I don't..." sobs began to rack Floramon again, the control she had fought to reassert over her emotions slipping away as the tears began to flow steadily. "I don't know where it is! I've tried to find things out but I can't learn anything! I can't help her! I..."

Floramon's words came to a sudden stop as Lupmon's fluffy arms wrapped around her small huddled body, the doggy digimon doing her best to deliver a comforting hug rather than her usual crushing one.

"S'okay," she hushed. "S'okay. Aniki is a great finderer too, and we're all trying to finder all of our friends. We were lost for a long time, but we found Aniki and he found us. Everything will be okay."

Loudly sniffling, Floramon couldn't help but wrap her arms about Lupmon, sinking into the warmth of her hug and her shining confidence. Looking on, Tanya couldn't help but feel a fire well up in her belly and a smile appeared on her face. It would be easy, right even, to call the sheer weight of her partner's faith naive, the absolute confidence she had in not only Aniki but all of them. But at the same time, it was the kind of confidence and faith that made you want to live up to it, that pushed away thoughts of failure and your own weakness.

'Maybe that's just me though...' she wondered. 'I'm always so full of doubt...yet Lupmon is so free of them. Sometimes I can't help but get swept up into her pace.'

A faint noise caught her attention and she pivoted to face the door, still sealed in ice. They had been able to roughly make out the far off sounds of battle since they had sealed up the room, but this was something smaller and closer. Her instincts flared up and screamed that someone was in the building, that someone had found them.

'But how would anyone find us?' She tried to reassure herself that there wasn't a way. Only Bryony, or rather, experiment ExAiAi would have been following them, and they had been sure to leave the creepy brain-slug and its host in the dust. How could it track them? The answer came with surprising ease, causing her to curse her own carelessness. They were not running from a digimon, but a human with a partner, and thus, a digivice with a handy little radar function to track other players and her partner. Pulling out her own digivice Tanya stared at the unfamiliar pink arrow that was undoubtedly Bryony, wondering how on Earth she had failed to think of this.

'It's pointing down and still a fair bit away. We've got time yet. But...do we stay? Do we run? Fighting is not an option. This is not an opponent we can fight. She is a hostage, not an enemy...'

Looking to the still weepy Floramon Tanya felt a horrible swell in her gut that seemed to dribble down her bones and leave her legs unsteady. Every option she could conceive of was flashing through her mind but the risk involved in them was too big. The control being held over Bryony was too big a factor. Anything they did could be countered by threatening her life to make them submit.

'There's only one option...' she realised, the weak feeling now becoming such that it felt like she was being devoured from within. 'We have to run...and...'

"Floramon," the word felt heavy as she spoke it, and her body felt unnatural as she moved it.

'We have to run and...'

"Floramon, Bryony...ExAiAi is coming. She's here."

'And...'

"We have to..."

01000010

"Psssshhhhhhh..." Eight rasped, legs looped around the railing as he stretched out on the slanted walkway, arms dangling above his head. "Booooorrred!" he proceeded to moan, the rasping of his 'r's bringing him only a small amount of comfort.

"It's not my fault you cannot multiply yourself," Eclipsemon feigned a sigh, smug satisfaction hung off of every syllable. Nightmare Rave doppelgangers were flying around the whole of the engine room, each one snatching an explosive charge before flying off through the shadows. Eclipsemon may have been lacking in the direct power his comrades were able to swing around, but he had more than his fair share of versatility.

"I just can't believe that THIS is it. That's a literal heart over there pumping...very, very necessary stuff around the ship's body; we got here by warping space-time! Lucifer himself was sailing this thing, and you're telling me the complex self-destruct system was bought from the ACME corporation!?"

"Breathe," Eclipsemon briefly reminded his partner before returning his attention to directing his many clones. The hacker had let his ramblings run on too long and was now gasping for air. Once his breathing was back under control he let out a long sigh.

"This is just...ridiculous. I've done...nothing," he moaned, dangling. "I didn't get us in, I didn't cripple the ship, I didn't beat...HIM into the ground and now, NOW I'm not even responsible for cunningly disarming the ship's apocalyptic explosion..."

Pseudo-ears drooping, Eclipsemon's glowing eyes actually softened a little. He had never seen his partner so deflated. He had not been completely superfluous to their mission. He had been straight up useful in fact, but he had not performed to his usual critical level. The hacker had not seemed affected by the stress of their situation when they first arrived in the digital world, but since they had met up with the others he seemed to have begun to crack. It wasn't surprising that failing to meet his own exacting standards might be the straw to break the camel's back.

"Eight-Ball...Listen, you –"

"I'M NOT GOING TO ACCEPT THIS SECONDARY CHARACTER STATUS! I SHOULD AT LEAST BE A DEUTERAGONIST!" Eight interrupted, suddenly returning to his usual animated self. "I swear Eclipsemon, next time things go down, I'm going to settle for nothing less than the spotlight!"

Sighing, Eclipsemon swallowed down his intended words of comfort and reassurance, whether or not his partner needed them his attitude certainly kept the shadow digimon from wanting to deliver them.

'Perhaps some people are just too insane to go mad...'

01000010

'We have to run and leave Floramon behind.'

The thought was there, unwanted in her mind, but the words would not come. The idea was just too horrible to say, even if it was their best option. They were hostages, victims, she should be saving them rather than abandoning them, but there was nothing she could do.

"It's okay..." Floramon sniffed, getting her tears under control and reaching one petal-made-hand up to touch Tanya's. "I understand."

Slowly, she disentangled herself from Lupmon and let go of Tanya before padding over to the far side of the room, stopping with her back to the pair.

"Even if you had another idea...I would go back to her. She needs me, and I need her." Turning her head, just a little, Tanya and Lupmon could see the faintest smile on the plant digimon's face as she struggled to reassure them. "I'll never regret being by her side."

"Floramon..." Lupmon pined, head and tail drooping.

"We'll save you..." Tanya near muttered, the void in her gut shifting as she did. "WE'LL SAVE YOU!" She shouted it this time, ignoring her unease and weakness. "Right now my friends are felling monsters and gods! It may not be now, but we'll definitely save you and Bryony both! I promise!"

"Tanya..." Floramon struggled to keep her composure.

Turning, she clutched her digivice, blue flames emerging about her hand before spreading to her partner, her cry of digivolution at odds with the cold atmosphere of the literally frozen room.

"Lupmon Digivolve to...LYKIOMON!"

"I promise," she spoke one more time before climbing onto Lykiomon's back, the large wolf giving Floramon one last, sad look before unleashing Raksha's Cry to shatter a chunk of the ice and the wall behind it and dashing out into the city once more.

Bounding over the rooftops, wind rushing about her, Lykiomon's sensitive ears still picked out the sound upon her back, concern flooding her voice as she spoke.

"Tanya? Are you okay?"

"She can't cry Lykiomon..." her partner answered, fists tight about the wolf's large collar. "Right now, she can't cry...and I couldn't do anything. I was able to make you evolve and I couldn't do anything..."

"Tanya..."

Looking down at where her tears fell, Tanya's fists became tighter, her already pale knuckles turning white from the pressure.

"Things seem to be quieting down now, we should try and find the others..."

A quiet pine rumbled from Lykiomon's throat as she tried to sniff out the scent of their friends, all the while listening to her partner quietly chanting to herself as tears streamed down her face.

"I promise, I promise, I promise..."

01000010

Pipmon struggled to push himself upright. He could not exactly claim to have a lot of experience in using his ultimate form, but he had never hurt this much in coming out of it. Heck, he had certainly dropped down from his champion state enough to know that most of the pain and injuries would go away, shedding the damaged data as you devolved. But right now he felt like he had been getting kicked around like a football. Every part of his tiny body hurt right now and he struggled to twist around to take a look at his surroundings.

The street had been practically obliterated; a deep trench ran along where cobblestones had once been, the terrifying effect of Lucemon's Grand Cross attack, the force that had taken Beelzemon completely out of the battle.

'What happened to him?' the exhausted in-training thought to himself. He had tried to voice it allowed, but he was too drained and sore to even open his mouth right now. 'Don't tell me Lucemon killed him...'

Lucemon's name triggered a dull warning in his head. He felt far less invincible than when the golden light had surrounded him and D-Greymon. If Lucemon was still standing they were all kinds of screwed. Staggering about, the small in-training digimon flopped onto his side as he tripped over himself, any sort of movement proving to be a great trial for him. Lucemon was lying there in the middle of the street, sort of. Amongst the torn and melted remains of the street the Demon Lord's body was still fading away, little more than his face and arm were left, his fist clenched tight and his eyes burning with fury. Suddenly the Lord of Pride turned his vicious gaze upon Pipmon, the little digimon freezing up with primal fear for a few moments, instincts screaming out that he was so much less than this decimated demon. Summoning his courage, he reminded himself that he was one of the ones who had done the decimating. Resolve steeled he did his best to glare back, no easy task given his current adorable body, but his eyes widened in confusion as Lucemon's eyes flicked from him back to his own fist, over and over again. His mouth opened in an effort to speak, but no noise came out, and the street could be seen through his open jaws. The whole back of his head was gone, rendering him mute.

"Wh...what are you trying to say?" Pipmon struggled along on his stubby little feet, trying to get closer to his fallen foe. With his primal fear under control he was sure this was not some final taunt, Lucemon was trying to tell him something important.

Gradually the decay of Lucemon's body reached down his arm and to his hand, his white clad fingers slipping away into data fragments and revealing what lay within. The source of Lucemon's ire wriggled within his dissipating grasp, small spindly limbs wriggled it around in a mad bid for freedom. Green gunk oozed from its body and its single, large, lidless eye swivelled about until it came to rest on Pipmon.

"The hell is that?"

The thing made no noise other than a disquieting squishing sound from the goo rubbing against its chitin covered form as it moved. Its twisted spider-like legs compressed down as it prepared to leap, waiting for a big enough gap to form in Lucemon's fist. The Demon Lord's burning gaze grew almost imploring as his grip faded along with his eyes. The last of his data swarmed together and began to glow a vibrant red before flying off into the air. The very moment that the red light took off acted as a kind of starting gun for the little eye-ball-spider-slug which sprung forward, only to have its bid for freedom blocked by a stream of pink, mildly explosive, bubbles.

"Like I'm letting something as shifty as you just hop on out of here!" Pipmon threatened, waggling his little non-arms in a rough emulation of a fight-ready pose.

The eyeball-spider-slug scurried around to face Pipmon directly, the single rolling eye staring straight at him again as the legs compressed down once more, this time springing straight at the little red digimon. The in-training digimon struggled to try and push his tiny assailant away, all too aware that the little nubs he called arms were near useless as he batted away at the freakish...thing. Opening his mouth, he prepared to try and blast it away with another Bubble Blow attack only to heed his instincts and clamp his jaws shut, realisation setting in regarding the creature's true intention. It was not trying to attack him, it lacked even the basic ability to claw and bite at him, but its legs had a rather impressive grip. Rather than try and wrestle though, it was focusing on his sealed up mouth, working to force his lips open.

'This damn thing wants to crawl inside of me!' Pipmon's eyes widened as his lips were tipped up and the thing began to pry his teeth apart, its thin little limbs surprisingly strong.

"Bubble Blow!"

Pink bubbles slammed into the side of the miniature monstrosity, sending it rolling to the ground, Pipmon breathed in a hasty sigh of relief before clamping his jaw shut again.

"The hell is that and did I kill it?" Koromon grunted, struggling to get his completely limbless body to move.

"I shink its shtill moving," Pipmon hissed as best he could with his mouth still closed as tightly as possible.

Sure enough, the hideous little thing scrambled for a few moments, struggling to get off of its back, before going still. With a series of sickening clicks and the most unnatural looking of movements the limbs bent and twisted, rearranging themselves so that they were placed on the ground, the creature's back becoming its belly.

"I miss the game world," Koromon shuddered at the sight and sound.

"I am not letting that thing in my mouth," Pipmon growled, his cheeks puffing up as he prepared the biggest load of Bubble Blow he could.

"STOP!" a girly voice cried out from above, causing the in-training digimon and the thing to look skyward for a moment, catching sight of the giant wolf that sailed through the air. "DON'T KILL IT!"

"Yeeomo?" Pipmon mumbled with his puffed up face.

"Tanya?" Koromon asked more coherently.

With numbed limbs Tanya attempted to sit up on her partner's back, only to find her balance completely failing her and she collapsed down to the street. Completely ignoring any pain or embarrassment she continued with her desperate warning. "That slug-spider thing! You can't kill it! It might help us help Bryony!"

"Who?" the pair of in-trainings asked in unison, bubbles pouring out of Pipmon's mouth as he spoke, his jaws slamming down to trap the remaining ones the moment the first few floated past his eyes.

"She..." Tanya began to explain, only to catch sight of the hideous little abomination trying to scurry away. "Catch it! I'll explain later, just please catch it!" she near shrieked in panic.

Responding to her urgency Koromon leapt after the spider-slug, Pipmon spewing out his remaining bubbles to block off its route of retreat. However, exhaustion and injury weighed too heavily on Koromon and the creature managed to slip past him as he did his best to pounce on it. Lykiomon too joined in, but her size proved a disadvantage and she was easily avoided, the creepy critter scurrying between her legs and making a dive for the nearest demolished building.

"NO!" Tanya cried out, scrambling to chase it. She knew that once it was amongst the debris they'd never find it again.

"NOOOOOOOO!" a second, more terrified, voice boomed from the sky. A screaming purple blob arced through the air before slamming into the creature, bowling it over once more and knocking it away from its intended sanctuary.

"Uuuuuurrraaaaahhhh!" a more mature female voice roared, a human woman in biker gear racing over the mound of debris, arms raised above her head with a large boot clasped in her hands. The few moments the creature had to react were not enough as the boot swung down upon it, the open end swallowing it up and trapping it inside. Sprawled out on the ground the woman smiled broadly up at the assembled and confused digimon, her expression dopey and upbeat in spite of the wounds that littered her body. "Got it!" was her only response to the bewilderment of those around her.

"Dis is no way to treat a superior life-form..." the purple blob sagged.

"Wh...who are you?" Tanya panted as she struggled up to her feet, watching as the woman seized a hunk of rock and wedged it in the opening of her shoe, allowing her to sit up-right with the creature trapped.

"Heh...I suppose it has been a while since we last showed our faces," the woman sighed, slumping back against the demolished house. Her vibrant expression rapidly began to fade, replaced by a great weariness, her mad dive having burned what little energy she had left. "Back in the game world I was known as Hel Lordi, and here my partner, that is, my boss is better known as The Demon Lord of Gluttony, Beelzemon."

The announcement was given very little weight, Lordi's hand giving a limp rolling wave towards the purple blob who struggled round to fix those assembled with his best glare. His big adorable eyes, however, made this completely ineffective and did nothing to stifle the resounding 'Eehh?' that burst forth from the group.

"Like I even care about who's who!" Pipmon's voice rang out. "Someone help me find Ranamon!"

01000010

SonicBirdmon's wings flapped and spread wide as Cecil hovered in the air, his partner nestled in the crook of his arm. Bryony sat upon ExAiVee's back, her limbs dangling like a ragdoll's as vacant eyes gazed down upon the city. Sandwiched uncomfortably between her marionetted partner and the towering form of Yersinimon, Floramon nervously played with her petals. It had not taken long for Cecil to find them after she had been reunited with Bryony and the pair were whisked off into the sky, bringing their small cabal all together again. This unhappy alliance sat awaiting the end of the countdown, a nervous tension clear on Cecil's face that stemmed from a very different root to Floramon's.

"I'm telling you, this won't work," the human insisted. "What part of 'he's two geniuses combined' do you not get?"

"Mind your tongue, chk," Yersinimon cautioned, his masked face not moving to look at his co-conspirator. "By the information you have given me on this 'Eight-Ball' he has no way to learn that the ship is soon to explode, chk."

"And if he does?"

"Then I will at least have a better assessment of his abilities than your stories have given me, chk," the doctor-like digimon curtly replied, tilting his head to inspect the little warped egg timer as it ticked the final moments away. Cecil and Floramon could not resist looking to the timer as well, the human's eyes growing wider as the flower digimon's began to squeeze shut until, at last, the final tick came and the timer sat silent.

"Where's the kaboom?" Cecil asked, turning back to the city. "There's supposed to be a..."

A loud BOOM filled the air, proving the timer to be a few seconds out with the ones on the bombs, a long wave of fire blasting the trail of destruction the ExVee had already left into a deeper series of craters. Despite this, however, it was not the devastating, city cleansing blast that had been expected, and there was nothing very impressive about demolishing rubble. Floramon had to press her petals to her mouth in order to fully contain the sigh of relief that surged up through her.

"Well, that was anti-climactic," Cecil sighed as Yersinimon signalled to his creation to depart. "And we're just going to leave things like this?"

"Our key objective has been completed, and Tsyunoinoichi lies in ruins. The destruction of these new obstacles would have been a plus, but with Lucemon's forces decimated you are all I have left to launch an offensive with. We have too little intelligence on our enemies' remaining forces and abilities, particularly after that last display. So yes, we are retreating. We will collect Lucemon's power another time."

His creation flying off Yersinimon slipped the warped egg timer back into his coat and mused to himself. What he had seen from Gaiomon's castle...that golden light...he had never seen a power like that manifest in the digital world in all of his research. How would such a power and those who wielded it affect what was to come? If there was a face beneath his mask, it was surely smiling. He had so few joys in the relentless pursuit of his mission, and answering such perplexing questions was one of them.

'The Nightmare Soldiers and this golden light...how fascinating, chk.'

01000010

"Five minutes to spare."

"My efficiency bothers you?"

Grumbling, Eight lifted his head to look at his partner, a sour look of disapproval on his face.

"You really have no idea how this whole 'dramatic tension' thing works. If it had been me I would have at LEAST co-ordinated the raves to spell out 'Nyaahahaha' in the sky. Or a portrait of myself."

Sighing, Shademon resisted the urge to ask how exactly he would create a portrait of himself with explosions. He had, he felt, indulged his partner enough by agreeing to come up to the bridge and watch the explosions; he did not need to take part in his mad, egocentric ramblings.

Before the hacker could continue his solo-act ramblings his digivice emitted an ear splitting 'vreen' noise, the screen flickering several shades of static as it did so.

"GAH! What the hell!?" Eight cried, pulling the small machine up to his face and delivering the finest of engineering slaps to its side.

"Please don't tell me all your fiddling broke it..." Shademon turned a very serious look upon his partner.

"I am 84% sure that I am not the cause of –"

Silencing the magnificent motor-mouth of the nightmare soldiers was probably a good indicator of the power held within the red light that surged up to the pair from seemingly nowhere. For a few energised moments it danced around the hacker and his partner before pouring into every seam of the digivice, turning the static blood red for a few moments before it settled into a single, clear image.

"A candelabra, a trident, an upside down rocketship?" Eight muttered, staring at his now silent digivice, a scowl soon forming on his features. "DAMNIT DIGITAL WORLD! DID I ASK YOU FOR MORE QUESTIONS! DID I? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

As the hacker wailed to the sky, a sullen stillness began to fall across the city. What little resistance was left in the forces of the invaders gradually petered out. Even with their victories the soldiers of Tsyunoinoichi could not feel at ease, having been left so dependent on outsiders for so much of the battle and with their castle in ruins and their Lord missing. But these were not troubles for those exhausted and weary members of the Nightmare Soldiers who had fought today, not for now at least. And what little rest they could seize now they had earned, for greater questions and troubles awaited them.

01000010

**Raven: **Fun thing about Eight Ball, and Cecil Jones by account of them being the same guy, is that if we can't have him do something crazy, we can at least have him talk about it. Keyo and I went back and forth a little on just how the bombs would be disposed of, and the idea of Eight arranging them came up. Since that wouldn't realistically happen with Eclipsemon doing the work, we decided to let Eight mention it at the very least. So nine times out of ten, if Eight says a plan that isn't implemented, chances are we considered implementing it.

And Hel Lordi FINALLY introduces herself! Those of you keeping score may notice that it took her a whopping total of fourty-one chapters before she gave any names out. That's right, she's been there since Chapter 12, tagging along with Impmon and all his Demon Lord glory! That's better than Eight Ball not revealing who he is though...or is it?

On the subject of Hel revealing her name, that fight with the parasite...is that not the cutest, most disturbing thing you have ever read?

**Keyo:** So this chapter took awhile, I had a few bumps in the process of putting it together but we're still on a roll of sorts ^^ But rather than whine about me being awkward I shall instead regale you with 'stuff that was going to happen in this story arc and then did not happen.' Warning, most of these involve Lucemon.

Our character's surprised us: Originally the fight with Lucemon was going to go very differently. Namely Beelzemon was meant to play a bigger role in taking him out, revealing the power of Bust mode. But then things happened and ClayDrakemon and D-Greymon were on their own and...well...they ended up not needing the help after all.

Attack of the Giant Lucemon: Remember that thing Lucemon mentioned was in his chest that did nothing? Well you'll find out what it is soon, but originally it was meant to go haywire after his initial defeat, turning him into a rampaging giant with a black-hole arm and a super-nova arm. With everyone exhausted save Tanya and Lupmon, it would be down to them to destroy the 'thing' in Lucemon's chest, forcing him back to normal. I'm sorry you lost your big bad-ass moment Tanya T_T This was sadly cut for time.

Beelzemon's Death and Lucemon's Un-Death: Finally, there was meant to be one last confrontation with a Zombiefied Lucemon that would have resulted in a one-on-one showdown with Beelzemon that would lead to both being dead. This was decided to be pointless and dumb.

Huh...Guess they were ALL about Lucemon. Oh well, join us next time when a thing will happen and I will have likely told you all that 'Bust Mode' was not a typo.

Ciao!


End file.
